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TRAVELS 


IN 


CENTRAL   ASIA; 

BEING  THE   ACCOUNT  OF 

A  JOURNEY  FROM  TEHERAN  ACROSS  THE 
TURKOMAN  DESERT  ON  THE  EASTERN  SHORE  OF  THE  CAS- 
.  PIAN  TO  KHIVA,  BOKHARA,  AND  SAMARCAND. 

IJerformcU  fn  tfje  Year  1863. 


By  ARMINIUS  VAMBERY, 

MEMBER   OF  THE   HUNGARIAN  ACADEMY  OF  PESTII,   UY  WHOM   HE  WAS   SENT  ON 

THIS  scii<:ntific  JHSSION. 


NEW    YORK: 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS,    PUBLISHERS, 

FRANKLIN      S  Q  U  A  U  K. 
18  6  5. 


0 


SRLF 

DH 
V25' 


TO 


MAJOR-GENERAL 


SIR  HENRY  RAWLINSON,   KG  B., 


THE  INVESTIGATOR  OF  THE  ANCIENT  HISTORY  OF  THE  EAST, 


AND  YIELDING  TO  NONE  IN  HIS 


KNOWLEDGE  OF  THE  PRESENT  CONDITION  OF  CENTRAL  ASIA, 


fin  STofeen  of  ^limiration  nnXi  ffifratituUe, 


THE  FOLLOWING  PAGES  ARE  DEDICATED 


A.  VAMBERY. 


PREFACE. 


I  WAS  born  in  Hungary  in  1832,  in  the  small  town  of  Duna 
Szerdahely,  situated  on  one  of  tlie  largest  islands  in  the  Dan- 
ube. Impelled  by  a  particular  inclination  to  linguistic  sci- 
ence, I  had  in  early  youth  occupied  myself  with  several  lan- 
guages of  Europe  and  Asia.  The  various  stores  of  Oriental 
and  Western  literature  were  in  the  first  instance  the  object  of 
my  eager  study.  At  a  later  period  I  began  to  interest  my- 
self in  the  reciprocal  relations  of  the  languages  themselves ; 
and  here  it  is  not  surprising  if  I,  in  applying  the  proverb 
"  nosce  teipsum,"  directed  my  principal  attention  to  the  afiin- 
ities  and  to  the  origin  of  my  own  mother  tongue. 

That  the  Hungarian  language  belongs  to  the  stock  called 
Altaic  is  well  known,  but  whether  it  is  to  be  referred  to  the 
Finnish  or  the  Tartaric  branch  is  a  question  that  still  awaits 
decision.  This  inquiry,  interesting''^  to  us  Hungarians  both 
in  a  scientific  and  a  national  point  of  view,  was  the  principal 
and  the  moving  cause  of  my  journey  to  the  East.  I  was  de- 
sirous of  ascertaining,  by  the  practical  study  of  the  living  lan- 
guages, the  positive  degree  of  affinity  which  had  at  once  struck 

*  The  opinion,  consequently,  that  we  Hungarians  go  to  Asia  to  seek  there 
those  of  our  race  who  "were  left  behind,  is  erroneous.  Such  an  object,  the  car- 
rying out  of  which,  both  from  ethnograjjhical  as  well  as  philological  reasons, 
would  be  an  impossibility,  would  render  a  man  amenable  to  the  charge  of  gross 
ignorance.  We  are  desirous  of  knowing  the  etymological  construction  of  our 
language,  and  therefore  seek  exact  information  from  cognate  idioms. 


Viii  PREFACE. 

me  as  existing  between  the  Hungarian  and  the  Turco-Tartar- 
ic  dialects  when  contemplating  them  by  the  feeble  light  which 
theory  supplied.  I  went  first  to  Constantinople.  Several 
years'  residence  in  Turkish  houses,  and  frequent  visits  to  Is- 
lamite schools  and  libraries,  soon  transformed  me  into  a  Turk 
— nay,  into  an  effendi.  The  progress  of  my  linguistic  re- 
searches impelled  me  farther  toward  the  remote  East;  and 
when  I  proposed  to  carry  out  my  views  by  actually  under- 
taking a  journey  to  Central  Asia,  I  found  it  advisable  to  re- 
tain this  character  of  effendi,  and  to  visit  the  East  as  an  Ori- 
ental. 

The  foregoing  observations  will  explain  the  object  which  I 
proposed  to  myself  in  my  wanderings  from  the  Bosphorus  to 
Samarcand,  Geological  or  astronomical  researches  were  out 
of  my  province,  and  had  even  become  an  impossibility  from 
my  assumption  of  the  character  of  a  dervish.  My  attention 
M^as  for  the  most  part  directed  to  the  races  inhabiting  Central 
Asia,  of  whose  social  and  political  relations,  character,  usages, 
and  customs  I  have  striven,  however  imperfectly,  to  give  a 
sketch  in  the  following  pages.  Although,  as  far  as  circum- 
stances and  my  previous  avocations  permitted,  I  allowed  noth- 
ing that  concerned  geography  and  statistics  to  escape  me,  still 
I  must  regard  the  results  of  my  philological  researches  as  the 
principal  fruits  of  my  journey.  These  I  am  desirous,  after 
maturer  preparation,  to  lay  before  the  scientific  world.  These 
researches,  and  not  the  facts  recorded  in  the  present  pages, 
must  ever  be  regarded  by  me  as  the  real  reward  of  a  journey 
in  which  I  wandered  about  for  months  and  months  with  only 
a  few  rags  as  my  covering,  without  necessary  food,  and  in 
constant  peril  of  perishing  by  a  death  of  cruelty,  if  not  of  tor- 
ture.   I  may  be  reproached  with  too  much  limiting  my  views, 


PREFACE. 


IX 


but  where  a  certain  object  is  proposed  we  should  not  lose 
sight  of  the  principle,  "non  omnia  possumus  omnes." 

A  stranger  on  the  field  to  which  the  publication  of  this 
narrative  has  introduced  me,  I  feel  my  task  doubly  difficult 
in  a  land  like  England,  where  literature  is  so  rich  in  books  of 
travels.  My  design  was  to  record  plainly  and  simply  what  I 
heard  and  saw  while  the  impression  still  remained  fresh  on 
my  mind.  I  doubt  much  whether  I  have  succeeded,  and  beg 
the  kind  indulgence  of  the  public.  Headers  and  critics  ma}' 
find  many  errors,  and  the  light  that  I  may  throw  upon  par- 
ticular points  may  be  accounted  too  small  a  compensation  for 
the  hardships  I  actually  encountered  ;  but  I  entreat  them  not 
to  forget  that  I  return  from  a  country  where  to  hear  is  re- 
garded as  impudence,  to  ask  as  crime,  and  to  take  notes  as  a 
deadly  sin. 

So  much  for  the  grounds  and  purposes  of  my  journey. 
With  respect  to  the  arrangement  of  these  pages,  in  order  that 
there  may  be  no  interruption,  I  have  divided  the  book  into 
two  parts;  the  first  containing  the  description  of  my  journey 
from  Teheran  to  Samarcand  and  back,  the  second  devoted  to 
notices  concerning  the  geography,  statistics,  politics,  and  so- 
cial relations  of  Central  Asia.  I  hope  that  both  will  prove  of 
equal  interest  to  the  reader ;  for  while,  on  the  one  hand,  I  pur- 
sued routes  hitherto  untrodden  by  any  European,  my  notices 
relate  to  subjects  hitherto  scarcely,  if  at  all,  touched  on  by 
waters  upon  Central  Asia.  And  now  let  me  perform  the 
more  pleasing  task  of  expressing  my  warm  acknowledgments 
to  all  those  whose  kind  reception  of  me  when  I  arrived  in 
London  has  been  a  great  furtherance  and  encouragement  to 
the  publication  of  the  following  narrative.  Before  all  let  me 
mention  the  names  of  Sir  Justin  and  Lady  Sheil.    In  their 


X  PREFACE. 

house  I.found,  English  open-heartedness  associated  with  Ori- 
ental hospitality ;  their  kindness  will  never  be  forgotten  by 
me.  Nor  are  my  obligations  less  to  the  Nestor  of  geological 
science,  the  President  of  the  Eoyal  Geographical  Society,  Sir 
EoDERiCK  MuRCHisoN ;  to  that  great  Oriental  scholar.  Vis- 
count Strangford  ;  and  to  Mr.  Layard,  M.P.,  Under  Sec- 
retary of  State.  In  Central  Asia  I  bestowed  blessing  for  kind- 
ness received ;  here  I  have  but  few  words :  they  are  sincere, 
and  come  from  the  heart.  A.  Vambery. 

London,  September  28, 1864. 


IVaW  1>A   :vi 


llwiv  l\.C;virtev 


CONTENTS. 


PAET  I. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Traveling  in  Persia. — Sleep  on  Horseback. — Teheran. — Recep- 
tion at  the  Turkish  Embassy. — Turkey  and  Persia. — Ferrukh 
Khan's  Visit  to  Europe. — War  between  Dost  Mohammed 
Khan  and  Sultan  Ahmed  Khan. — Excursion  to  Shiraz   Page  1 9 

CHAPTER  11. 

Return  to  Teheran. — Relief  of  Sunnites,  Dervishes,  and  Hadjis 
at  the  Turkish  Embassy. — Author  becomes  acquainted  with  a 
Caravan  of  Tartar  Hadjis  returning  from  Mecca. — The  differ- 
ent Routes. — The  Author  determines  to  join  the  Hadjis. — 
Hadji  Bilal. — Introduction  of  the  Author  to  his  future  travel- 
ing Companions, — Route  through  the  Yomuts  and  the  Great 
Desert  decided  upon 28 

CHAPTER  IH. 

Departure  from  Teheran  in  a  northeasterly  Direction. — The  com- 
ponent Members  of  the  Caravan  described. — 111  Feeling  of  Shi- 
ites  toward  the  Sunnite  Hadjis. — Mazendran. —  Zirab. —  Hef- 
ten. — Tigers  and  Jackals. — Sari. — Karatepe 40 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Karatepe. — Author  entertained  by  an  Afghan,  Nur-Ullah. — Sus- 
picions as  to  his  Dervish  Character. — Hadjis  provision  them- 
selves for  the  Journey  through  the  Desert, — Afghan  Colony. — 
Nadir  Shah. — First  View  of  the  Caspian. — Yacoub,  the  Turk- 
oman Boatman. — Love  Talisman. — Embarkation  for  Ashoura- 
da. — Voyage  on  the  Caspian. — Russian  Part  of  Ashourada. — 


xii  CONTENTS. 

Russian  War  Steamers  in  the  Caspian. — Turkoman  Chief  in 
the  Service  of  Russia. — Apprehension  of  Discovery  on  the  Au- 
thor's part. — Arrival  at  Goraushtepe  and  at  the  Mouth  of  the 
Gorghen Page  50 

CHAPTER  V. 

Arrival  at  Gomtishtepe  ;  hospitable  Reception  of  the  Hadjis. — 
Khan dj an. — Ancient  Greek  Wall. — Influence  of  the  Ulemas. 
— First  Brick  Mosque  of  the  Nomads. — Tartar  Raids. — Per- 
sian Slaves. — Excursion  to  the  Northeast  of  Gomtishtepe. — 
Tartar  Fiancee  and  Banquet,  etc. — Preparation  of  the  Khan 
of  Khiva's  Kei'vanbashi  for  the  Journey  through  the  Desert. 
— Line  of  Camels. — Ilias  Beg,  the  Hirer  of  Camels. — Arrange- 
ments with  Kulkhan.  —  Turkoman  Expedition  to  steal  Horses 
in  Persia. — Its  Return 67 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Departure  from  Gomtishtepe. — Character  of  our  late  Host. — 
Turkoman  Mounds  or  Tombs. — Disagreeable  Adventure  with 
Wild  Boars. — Plateau  to  the  North  of  Gomtishtepe. — Nomad 
Habits.  —  Turkoman  Hospitality.  —  The  last  Goat. — Persian 
Slave. — Commencement  of  the  Desert. — A  Turkoman  Wife 
and  Slave. — Etrek. — Persian  Slaves.— Russian  Sailor  Slave. — 
Proposed  Alliance  between  Yomuts  and  Tekke. — Rendezvous 
with  the  Kervanbashi. — Tribe  Kem. — Adieu  to  Etrek. — Af- 
ghan makes  Mischief. — Description  of  the  Caravan 94 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Kervanbashi  insists  that  the  Author  should  take  no  Notes. — Eid 

Mehemmed  and  his  Brother's  noble  Conduct.— -Guide  loses  his 

.  Way. — Korentaghi,  Ancient  Ruins,  probably  Greek. — Little 

and  Great  Balkan. — Ancient  Bed  of  the  Oxus. — Vendetta. — 

Sufferings  from  Thirst 116 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Thunder. — Gazelles  and  Wild  Asses. — Arrival  at  the  Plateau 
Kaftankir.  —  Ancient  Bed  of  the  Oxus.^ — Friendly  Encamp- 
ment.— Approach  of  Horsemen. — Gazavat. — Entry  into  Khiva. 
— Malicious  Charge  by  the  Afghan. — Interview  with  the  Khan. 


CONTENTS  xiii 

— Author  required  to  give  a  Specimen  of  Turkish  Penmanship. 
— Robes  of  Honor  estimated  by  Human  Heads. — Horrible  Ex- 
ecution of  Prisoners. — Peculiar  Execution  of  Women. — Kun- 
grat. — The  Author's  last  Benediction  of  the  Khan   Page  142 

CHAPTER  IX. 

FROM   KHIVA   TO   BOKHARA. 

Departure  from  Khiva  for  Bokhara. — Ferry  across  the  Oxus. — 
Great  Heat. — Shurakhan. — Market. — Singular  Dialogue  with  a 
Kirghis  Woman  on  Nomadic  Life. — Ttiniiklu. — Alaman  of  the 
Tekke.  —  Cai-avan,  alarmed,  returns  to  Tiintiklu. — Forced  to 
throw  itself  into  the  Desert,  "  Destroyer  of  Life." — Thirst. — 
Death  of  Camels. — Death  of  a  Hadji. — Stormy  Wind. — Pre- 
carious State  of  the  Author.  —  Hospitable  Reception  among 
Persian  Slaves. — First  Impression  of  Bokhara  the  Noble  176 

CHAPTER  X. 

Bokhara. — Reception  at  the  Tekkie,  the  chief  Nest  of  Islamism. 
— Rahmet  Bi. — Bazars. — Baha-ed-din,  great  Saint  of  Turkes- 
tan.— Spies  set  upon  the  Author. — Fate  of  recent  Travelers  in 
Bokhara. — Book  Bazar. — ^The  Worm  (Rishte). — Water  Sup- 
ply.— Late  and  present  Emirs. — Harem,  Government,  Family 
of  the  reigning  Emii*. — Slave  Depot  and  Trade. — Departure 
from  Bokhara,  and  Visit  to  the  Tomb  of  Baha-ed-din ....    203 

CHAPTER  XL 

Bokhara  to  Samarcand. — Little  Desert  of  Choi  Melik. — Anima- 
tion of  the  Road  owing  to  War. — First  View  of  Samarcand. — 
Haszreti  Shah  Ziude. — Mosque  of  Timour. — Citadel  (Ark). — 
Reception  Hall  of  Timour. — Koktash,  or  Timour's  Throne. — 
Singular  Footstool. — Timour's  Sepulchre  and  that  of  his  Pre- 
ceptor.— Author  Visits  the  actual  Tomb  of  Timour  in  the  Sou- 
terrain. — Folio  Koran  ascribed  to  Osraan,  Mohammed's  Secre- 
tary. — Colleges. — Ancient  Observatory. — Greek  Armenian  Li- 
brary not,  as  pretended,  carried  oif  by  Timour. — Architecture 
of  Public  Buildings  not  Chinese,  but  Persian.  —  Modern  Sa- 
marcand.— Its  Population. — Dehbid. — Author  decides  to  re- 
turn.— Arrival  of  the  Emir. — Author's  Interview  with  him. — 
Parting  from  the  Hadjis,  and  Departure  from  Samarcand  235 


Xiv  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Samarcand  to  Karshi  through  the  Desert. — Nomads. — Karshi, 
the  ancient  Nakhseb. — Trade  and  Manufacture. — Kerki. — 
The  Oxus. — The  Author  charged  with  being  a  runaway  Slave. 
— Ersari  Turkomans. — Mezari  Sherif, — Balkh. — Author  joins 
a  Caravan  from  Bokhara.  —  Slavery.  —  Zeid. — Andkhuy. — 
Yeketut. — Khairabad. — Maymene. — Akkale Page  262 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Maymene. — Its  Political  Position  and  Importance. — Reigning 
Prince. — Rivalry  of  Bokhara  and  Kabul. — Dost  Mohammed 
Khan. — Ishan  Eyub  and  Mollah  Khalmurad. — Khanat  and 
Fortress  of  Maymene. — I^scaped  Russian  Offenders. — Murgab 
River  and  Bala  Murgab. — Djemshidi  and  Afghan. — Ruinous 
Taxes  on  Merchandise. — Kale  No. — Hezare. — Afghan  Exac- 
tions and  Maladministration 286 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

HERAT. 

Herat:  its  ruinous  State.  —  Bazar. — Author's  Destitute  Condi- 
tion.— The  Serdar  Mehemmed  Yakoub  Khan. — Parade  of  Af- 
ghan Troops. — Interview  with  the  Serdar. — Conduct  of  Af- 
ghans on  storming  Herat. — Xazir  iSTaim,  the  Vizir. — Embar- 

,  rassed  State  of  the  Revenue.  —  Major  Todd. — Mosalla,  and 
Tomb  of  Sultan  Husein  Mirza. — Tomb  of  Khodja  Abdullah 
Ansari  and  of  Dost  Mohammed  Khan 313 

CHAPTER  XV. 

rROil    HERAT   TO   LOXDON. 

Author  joins  a  Caravan  for  Meshed. — Kuhsun,  last  Afghan  Town. 
— False  Alarm  from  Wild  Asses. — Debatable  Ground  between 
Afghan  and  Persian  Territory. — Bifurcation  of  Route. — Yusuf 
Khan  Hezareh. — Ferimon. — Colonel  Dolmage. — Prince  Sultan 
Murad  Mirza. — Author  avows  who  he  is  to  the  Serdar  of  He- 
rat.— Shahrud. — Teheran,  and  "Welcome  there  by  the  Turkish 
Charge  d' Affaires,  Ismael  Effendi, — Kind  Reception  by  Mr. 
Alison  and  the  English  Embassy. — Interview  with  the  Shah. 
— The  Kavvan  ud  Dowlet  and  the  Defeat  at  Merv. — Return 


CONTENTS.  XV 

by  Trebizonde  and  Constantinople  to  Pesth. — Author  leaves 
the  Khiva  Mollah  behind  him  at  Pesth  and  proceeds  to  Lon- 
don.— His  Welcome  in  the  last-named  City Page  332 


PAKT  II. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE    TURKOMANS. 

Boundaries  and  Division  of  Tribes. — Neither  Rulers  nor  Sub- 
jects.— Deb. — Islam. — Change  introduced  by  the  latter  only 
external. — Influence  of  MoUahs.  —  Construction  of  Nomad 
Tents. — Alaman,how  conducted. — Persian  Cowardice. — Turk- 
oman Poets. — Troubadours. — Simple  Marriage  Ceremonies. — 
Horses. — Mounds,  how  and  when  formed. — Mourning  for  the 
Dead. — ^Turkoman  Descent. — General  Points  connected  with 
the  History  of  the  Turkomans. — Their  present  Political  and 
Geographical  Importance 347 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE    CITY    OF    KHIVA. 

Khiva,  the  Capital. — Principal  Divisions,  Gates,  and  Quarters  of 
the  City.  —  Bazars. — Mosques. — Medresse  or  Colleges  ;  how 
founded,  organized,  and  endowed.  —  Police.  —  Khan  and  his 
Government. — Taxes. — Tribunals. — Khanat. — Canals. — Polit- 
ical Divisions. — Produce. — Manufactures  and  Trade. — Partic- 
ular Routes.  —  Khanat,  how  peopled. — Ozbegs. — Turkomans. 
— Karakalpak. — Kasak  (Kirghis). — Sart. — Persians. — History 
of  Khiva  in  the  Fifteenth  Century.  —  Khans  and  their  Gene- 
alogy     378 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE    CITY   OF   BOKHARA. 

City  of  Bokhara,  its  Gates,  Quarters,  Mosques,  Colleges. — One 
founded  by  Czarina  Catharine. — Founded  as  Seminaries,  not 
ofLearning,  but  Fanaticism. — Bazars. — Police  System  severer 
than  elsewhere  in  Asia. — The  Khanat  of  Bokhara. — luhabi- 


xvi  CONTENTS. 

tants  :  Ozbegs,  Tadjiks,  Kirghis,  Arabs,  Mervi,  Persians,  Hin- 
doos, Jews. — Government. — Different  Officials. — Political  Di- 
visions.— Army. — Summary  of  History  of  Bokhara   Page  413 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

KHAN  AT    OF    KHOKAND. 

Inhabitants.  —  Division.  —  Khokand  Tashkend.  —  Khodjend.  — 
Mergolan  Endidjan.  —  Hazreti  Turkestana. — Oosh. — Political 
Position. — Recent  Wars 431 

CHAPTER  XX. 

CHINESE     TARTAR  Y. 

Approach  from  the  West.  —  Administration.  —  Inhabitants.  — 
Cities 448 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Communication  of  Central  Asia  with  Russia,  Persia,  and  India, 
— Routes  in  the  three  Khanats  and  Chinese  Tartary. ...   458 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

GENERAL  VIEW  OP  AGRICULTURE,  MANUFACTURES,  AND   TRADE. 

Agriculture. — Different  kinds  of  Horses.  —  Sheep. — Camels. — 
Asses. — Manufactures,  principal  Seats  of  Trade. — Commercial 
Ascendency  of  Russia  in  Central  Asia 469 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

INTERNAL   AND   EXTERNAL   POLITICAL   RELATIONS    OF   CENTRAL 

ASIA. 

Internal  Relations  between  Bokhara,  Khiva,  and  Khokand. — Ex- 
ternal Relations  with  Turkey,  Persia,  China,  and  Russia .   480 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE   RIVALRY  OF  THE   RUSSIANS  AND  ENGLISH  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA. 

Attitude  of  Russia  and  England  toward  Central  Asia. — Progress 
of  Russia  on  the  Jaxartes 489 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAOB 


Dervishes  at  Bokhaea Frontisjnece. 

Reception  by  Tuekoman  Chief  on  the  Caspian  Suoee  66 

Inteuding  upon  the  Haunts  of  the  Wild  Boar 97 

Wild  Man  in  the  Deseet 137 

Receiting  Payment  for  Human  Heads — Khr-a  ......  172 

The  Feeey  aceoss  the  Oxus 181 

Tebbad — Sand-stoem  in  the  Desert 196 

Entey  of  the  Emie  into  Samaecand 256 

"  I   SWEAR   you   are   AN   ENGLISHMAN  !" 323 

Tent  in  Central  Asia 363 

Tartar  Horse-race — Pursuit  of  a  Bride  (Kokblei)..  371 

ISIaeket  on  Hoeseback — Among  the  Ozbegs 395 

Map  of  Centeal  Asia,  showing  Author's  Route  At  the  end. 

B 


TRAVELS 


CENTRAL    ASIA 


CHAPTER  I. 


TRAVELING    IN    PERSIA. — SLEEP    ON    HORSEBACK. TEHERAN. RECEPTION    AT 

THE    TURKISH    EMBASSY. TURKEY    AND    PERSIA. FERRUKH    KHAN'S    VISIT 

TO   EUROPE. WAR    BETWEEN    DOST    MOHAMMED    KHAN    AND    SULTAN   AHMED 

KHAN. — EXCURSION   TO   SHIRAZ. 


*'Je  marchais,  et  mes  compagnons  Jiottaient  coiiime  des  branches  par  leffet  du 
sommeil. " — Victor  Hugo,  from  Omaiah  ben  Aiedz. 


Whoever  has  traveled  through  Persia  in  the  mid- 
dle of  July  Avill  sympathize  with  me  when  I  say  how 
glad  I  felt  at  having  got  through  the  district  that 
extends  from  Tabris  to  Teheran.  It  is  a  distance 
of  only  fifteen,  or  perhaps  we  may  rather  say  of  only 
thirteen  caravan  stations ;  still,  it  is  fearfully  fatigu- 
ing, when  circumstances  compel  one  to  toil  slowly 
from  station  to  station  under  a  scorching  sun,  mount- 
ed upon  a  laden  mule,  and  condemned  to  see  nothing 
but  such  drouth  and  barrenness  as  characterize  al- 
most the  whole  of  Persia.  How  bitter  the  disap- 
pointment of  him  who  has  studied  Persia  only  in 
Saadi,  Khakani,  and  Hafiz ;   or,  still  worse,  who  has 


20  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  I. 

received  his  dreamy  impressions  of  the  East  from 
the  beautiful  imaginings  of  Goethe's  "Ost-Westli- 
cher  Divan,"  or  Victor  Hugo's  "  Orientales, "  or  the 
magnificent  j)icturings  of  Tom  Moore ! 

It  was  not  until  we  were  about  two  stations  from 
Teheran  that  the  idea  struck  our  djilodar*  to  change 
our  march  by  day  into  night  marches.  But  even 
this  expedient  had  its  inconveniences,  for  the  cool- 
ness of  the  night  in  Persia  is  a  great  disposer  to 
slumber ;  the  slow  pace  of  the  animals  has  a  com- 
posing effect,  and  one  must  really  firmly  cling  to 
them,  or  even  suffer  one's  self  to  be  bound  on  by 
cords,  to  avoid  being  precipitated  during  one's  sleep 
down  upon  the  sharp  flint-stones  below.  The  Ori- 
ental, habituated  to  this  constant  torment,  sleeps 
sweetly  enough,  ^^hatever  may  be  the  kind  of  saddle, 
whether  it  be  upon  horse,  camel,  mule,  or  ass,  and  it 
gave  me  many  a  moment  of  merry  enjoyment  as  I 
contemplated  the  tall,  lanky,  long-robed  Persians  ly- 
ing outstretched,  with  their  feet  nearly  touching  the 
ground,  and  their  heads  supported  upon  the  necks 
of  the  patient  beasts.  In  this  j)osition  the  Persians 
take  their  nap  quite  tranquilly,  while  they  uncon- 
sciously pass  many  stations.  But,  at  that  time.  Ne- 
cessity, the  mother  of  invention,  had  not  yet  imparted 
to  me  the  necessary  experience ;  and  while  the  great- 
er part  of  my  traveling  companions  near  me,  in  spite 
of  their  soft  slumbers,  were  still  riding  on,  I  was  left 
undisturbed  to  the  studious  contemjDlation  of  the 
Kervankusch  and  Pervins  (Pleiades) ;   and  I  looked 

*  The  same  as  kervanbasbi ;  one  "who  hires  the  camels,  mules, 
asses,  etc. 


Chap.  I.  TEHERAN.  21 

with  inexpressible  longing  to  that  quarter  where  the 
Suheil  (Canopus)  and  the  Sitarei  Subh  (morning 
star)  emerging,  should  announce  the  dawn  of  day, 
the  proximity  of  the  station,  and  the  end  of  our  tor- 
ments. What  wonder  that  I  was  somewhat  in  the 
condition  of  a  half-boiled  fish  when,  on  the  13th  of 
July,  1862, 1  approached  the  capital  of  Persia?  We 
stopped  at  a  distance  of  a  couple  of  Englisli  miles, 
on  the  banks  of  a  stream,  to  let  our  beasts  drink. 
The  halt  awakened  my  companions,  who,  still  sleep- 
ily rubbing  their  eyes,  pointed  out  to  me  how  Tehe- 
ran was  there  lying  before  us  to  the  northeast.  I 
looked  about  me,  and  perceived  in  that  direction  a 
blue  smoke  rising  and  lengthening  in  long  columns 
upward,  permitting  me,  however,  here  and  there  to 
distinguish  the  outline  of  a  glittering  dome,  till  at 
last,  the  vaporous  veil  having  gradually  disappeared, 
I  had  the  enjoyment,  as  Persians  exjDress  themselves, 
of  beholding  before  me,  in  all  her  naked  wretched- 
ness, the  Dariil  Khilafe,  or  Seat  of  Sovereignty. 

I  made  my  entry  through  the  Dervaze  (gate)  No, 
and  shall  certainly  not  soon  forget  the  obstacles  amid 
which  I  had  to  force  my  way.  Asses,  camels,  and 
mules,  laden  with  barley  straw,  and  bales  of  Persian 
or  European  merchandise,  were  all  pressing  on  in 
the  most  fearful  confusion  at  the  very  entrance  of 
the  gate.  Drawing  ujd  my  legs  under  me  upon  the 
saddle,  and  screaming  out  as  lustily  as  my  neigh- 
bors, "Khaberdar,  Khaberdar*'  (Take  care),  I  at  last 
succeeded  in  getting  into  the  city,  though  with  no 
little  trouble.  I  traversed  the  bazar,  and  finally 
reached  the  palace  of  the  Turkish  embassy  without 


22  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASLA..  Chap.  I. 

having  received  any  serious  wound  either  by  squeeze, 
blow,  or  cut. 

A  native  of  Hungary,  sent  by  the  Hungarian 
Academy  upon  a  scientific  mission  to  Central  Asia, 
what  had  I  to  do  at  the  Turkish  embassy?  This 
will  appear  from  the  Preface,  to  which  I  respectfully 
request  my  readers'  attention,  in  spite  of  the  preju- 
dice condemning  such  introductions  as  tiresome  and 
unnecessary. 

With  Haydar  Effendi,  who  then  represented  the 
Porte  at  the  Persian  court,  I  had  been  already  ac- 
quainted at  Constantinople.  He  had  previousl}'' 
filled  similar  functions  at  St.  Petersburg  and  at 
Paris.  But,  notwithstanding  my  being  personally 
known  to  him,  I  was  bearer  also  of  letters  from  his 
most  esteemed  friends ;  and,  counting  upon  the  oft- 
proved  hospitality  of  the  Turks,  I  felt  sure  of  meet- 
ing with  a  good  reception.  I  consequently  regarded 
the  residence  of  the  Turkish  embassy  as  my  future 
abode ;  and  as  these  gentlemen  had  resorted  already 
to  their  yailar  or  summer  seat  at  Djizer  (eight  En- 
glish miles  from  Teheran),  I  only  changed  my  clothes, 
and,  after  indulging  in  a  few  hours'  repose  to  atone 
for  my  recent  sleepless  nights,  I  mounted  an  ass, 
hired  for  an  excursion  into  the  country,  and  in  two 
hours  found  myself  in  the  presence  of  the  efiendis, 
who,  in  a  magnificent  tent  of  silk,  were  just  about  to 
commence  a  dinner  possessing  in  my  eyes  still  supe- 
rior magnificence  and  attraction. 

My  reception,  both  by  the  embassador  and  the  sec- 
retaries, was  of  the  most  friendly  description :  room 
was  soon  found  for  me  at  the  table,  and  in  a  few  mo- 


Chap.  I.  TURKEY  AND  PERSIA.  23 

ments  we  were  in  deep  conversation  respecting  Stam- 
boul  and  her  beautiful  views,  the  sultan  and  his  mode 
of  p;overnment.  Ah  !  how  refreshino-  in  Teheran  is 
the  recollection  of  the  Bosphorus  ! 

What  wonder  if,  in  the  course  of  the  conversa- 
tion, frequent  comparisons  were  instituted  between 
the  Persian  and  the  Turkish  manner  of  livinjr? 

If  one  too  hastily  gives  way  to  first  impressions, 
Iran,  the  theme  of  so  much  poetic  enthusiasm,  is, 
after  all,  nothing  but  a  fi'ightful  waste,  whereas  Tur- 
key is  really  an  earthly  paradise.  I  accord  to  the 
Persian  all  the  politeness  of  manners,  and  all  the 
readiness  and  vivacity  of  wit,  that  are*wanting  to  the 
Osmanli;  but  in  the  latter  the  absence  of  these  qual- 
ities is  more  than  compensated  by  an  integrity  and 
an  honorable  frankness  not  possessed  by  his  rival. 
The  Persian  can  boast  a  poetic  organization  and  an 
ancient  civilization.  The  superiority  of  the  Osmanli 
results  from  the  attention  he  is  j)aying  to  the  lan- 
guages of  Europe,  and  his  disposition  gradually  to 
acquaint  himself  with  the  progress  that  European 
savans  have  made  in  chemistry,  physics,  and  history. 

Our  conversation  was  prolonged  far  into  night. 
The  following  days  were  devoted  to  my  presentation 
at  the  other  European  embassies.  I  found  Count 
Gobineau,  the  Imperial  embassador,  under  a  small 
tent  in  a  srarden  like  a  caldron,  where  the  heat  was 
awful.  Mr.  Alison  was  more  comfortably  quartered 
in  his  garden  at  Gulahek,  purchased  for  him  by  his 
government.  He  was  very  friendly.  I  had  often 
the  opportunity,  at  his  hospitable  table,  of  studying 
the  question  why  the  English  envoys  every  where 


24  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  I. 

distinguish  themselves  among  their  diplomatic  breth- 
ren by  the  comfortableness  as  well  as  the  splendor 
of  their  establishments.  In  addition  to  the  diplo- 
matic corps  of  Europe,  I  found  at  that  time  at  Tehe- 
ran many  officers,  French  or  Italian ;  an  Austrian 
officer,  too,  of  the  Engineers,  K.  von  Gasteiger — all 
of  them  in  the  service  of  the  Shah,  with  liberal  al- 
lowances. These  gentlemen,  as  I  heard,  were  dis- 
posed to  render  themselves  very  serviceable,  possess- 
ing all  the  requisite  qualifications ;  but  any  benefit 
that  might  have  resulted  was  entirely  neutralized  by 
the  systematic  want  of  system  that  existed  in  Per- 
sia, and  by  the  low  intrigues  of  the  Persians. 

The  object  of  Ferrukh  Khan's  diplomatic  journeys 
in  Europe  was  in  reality  to  show  our  cabinets  how 
much  Iran  had  it  at  heart  to  obtain  admittance  into 
the  comity  of  states.  He  begged  aid  every  where, 
that  his  country  might  have  the  wondrous  elixir  of 
civilization  imparted  to  it  as  rapidly  as  possible. 
All  Europe  thought  that  Persia  was  really  upon  the 
point  of  adopting  every  European  custom  and  prin- 
ciple. As  Ferrukh  Khan  has  a  long  beard,  wears 
long  robes  and  a  high  hat,  which  give  him  a  very 
earnest  look,  our  ministers  were  kind  enough  to  at- 
tach to  him  unlimited  credit.  Wishing  to  honor  a 
regular  government  in  Persia,  troops  of  officers,  art- 
ists, and  artisans  flocked  to  him.  They  went  still 
farther,  and  hastened  to  return  the  visits  of  the  En- 
voy Extraordinary  of  the  Shah.  In  consequence, 
we  saw  Belgium,  at  no  little  expense,  forwarding  an 
embassador  to  Persia  to  study  commercial  relations, 
to  make  treaties  of  commerce,  and  to  give  effect  to 


Chap.  I.  ARRIVAL  OF  EMBASSADORS.  25 

numberless  other  strokes  of  policy.  He  arrived, 
and  I  can  scarcely  imagine  that  his  first  report  home 
could  have  begun  with  "Veni,  vidi,  vici,"  or  that  he 
could  have  felt  the  slightest  desire  to  pay  a  second 
visit  to  "la  belle  Perse."  Next  to  Belgium  came 
Prussia.  The  learned  diplomatist  Baron  von  Min- 
utoli,  to  whom  the  mission  was  intrusted,  devoted 
his  life  to  it.  His  thirst  after  science  impelled  him 
to  proceed  to  South  Persia;  and  at  only  two  days' 
journey  from  "heavenly  Shiraz,"  as  the  Persians 
call  it,  he  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the  pestilential  air,  and 
now  reposes  in  the  place  last  mentioned,  a  few  paces 
from  Hafiz,  and  behind  the  Baghi  Takht. 

A  few  days  after  I  came  the  embassy  of  the  new 
kingdom  of  Italy  arrived  also,  consisting  of  twenty 
persons,  divided  into  diplomatic,  military,  and  scien- 
tific sections.  The  object  they  had  in  view  has  re- 
mained always  a  mystery  to  me.  I  have  much  to 
recount  respecting  their  reception,  but  prefer  to  keep 
these  details  for  a  better  occasion,  and  to  busy  my- 
self more  especially  with  the  preparations  I  then 
made  for  my  own  journey. 

By  the  kind  offices  of  my  friends  at  the  Turkish 
embassy,  I  was  in  a  condition  very  little  suited  to  the 
character  of  a  mendicant  dervish  which  I  was  about 
to  assume  :  the  comforts  I  was  enjoying  were  heart- 
ily distasteful  to  me,  and  I  should  have  preferred, 
after  my  ten  days'  repose  at  Teheran,  to  proceed  at 
once  to  Meshed  and  Herat,  had  not  obstacles,  long 
dreaded,  interfered  with  my  design.  Even  before  the 
date  of  my  leaving  Constantinople,  I  had  heard,  by 
the  daily  press,  of  the  war  declared  by  Dost  Moham- 


26  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  I. 

med  Khan  against  his  son-in-law  and  former  vassal 
at  Herat,  Sultan  Ahmed  Khan,  because  the  latter 
had  broken  his  fealty  to  him,  and  had  placed  himself 
under  the  suzerainty  of  the  Shah  of  Persia.  Our 
European  papers  seemed  to  me  to  exaggerate  the 
whole  matter,  and  the  story  failed  to  excite  in  me 
the  apprehensions  it  really  ought  to  have  done.  I 
regarded  the  difficulties  as  unreal,  and  began  my  jour- 
ney. Nevertheless,  here  in  Teheran,  at  a  distance  of 
only  thirty-two  days' journey  from  the  seat  of  war,  I 
learned  from  undeniable  sources,  to  my  very  great  re- 
gret, that  the  war  in  those  parts  had  really  broken 
off  all  communications,  and  that  since  the  siege  had 
begun,  no  caravan,  still  less  any  solitary  traveler, 
could  pass  either  from  or  to  Herat.  Persians  them- 
selves dared  not  venture  their  wares  or  their  lives ; 
but  there  would  have  been  far  more  cause  for  appre- 
hension in  the  case  of  a  European,  whose  foreign  lin- 
eaments would,  in  those  savage  Asiatic  districts,  even 
in  periods  of  peace,  be  regarded  by  an  Oriental  with 
mistrust,  and  must  singularly  displease  him  in  time 
of  war.  The  chances,  indeed,  seemed  to  be,  if  I  ven- 
tured thither,  that  I  should  be  unceremoniously  mas- 
sacred by  the  Afghans.  I  began  to  realize  my  actu- 
al position,  and  convinced  myself  of  the  impossibil- 
ity, for  the  moment,  of  prosecuting  my  journey  under 
such  circumstances ;  and  in  order  not  to  reach,  dur- 
ing the  wintry  season,  Bokhara,  in  the  wastes  of  Cen- 
tral Asia,  I  immediately  determined  to  postpone  my 
journey  till  next  March,  when  I  should  have  the 
finest  season  of  the  year  before  me  ;  and,  perhaps,  in 
the  mean  time,  the  existing  political  relations,  which 


Chap.  I.  PROCEED  TO  SHIRAZ.  27 

barricaded  Herat,  the  gate  of  Central  Asia,  from  all 
approach,  might  have  ceased.  It  was  not  till  the  be- 
ginning of  September  that  I  became  reconciled  to 
this  necessity.  It  will  be  readily  understood  how 
unpleasant  it  was  for  me  to  have  to  spend  five  or  six 
months  in  a  country  possessing  for  me  only  second- 
ary interest,  and  respecting  which  so  many  excellent 
accounts  have  already  appeared.  Not,  then,  with 
any  serious  intention  of  studying  Persia,  but  rather 
to  withdraw  myself  from  a  state  of  inactivity  calcu- 
lated to  be  prejudicial  to  my  future  purposes,  I  quit- 
ted, in  a  semi-dervish  character,  my  hospitable  Turk- 
ish friends,  and  proceeded  at  once  by  Ispahan  to  Shi- 
raz,  and  so  obtained  the  enjoyment  of  visiting  the 
oft-described  monuments  of  ancient  Iran  civilization. 


28  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  U. 


CHAPTER  II. 


RETURN  TO  TEHERAN. — RELIEF  OF  SUNNITES,  DERVISHES,  AND  HADJIS  AT  THE 
TURKISH  EMBASSY. — AUTHOR  BECOMES  ACQUAINTED  WITH  A  CARAVAN  OF 
TARTAR  HADJIS  RETURNING  FROM  MECCA. — THE  DIFFERENT  ROUTES. — THE 
AUTHOR  DETERMINES  TO  JOIN  THE  HADJIS. — HADJI  BILAL. — INTRODUCTION 
OF  THE  AUTHOR  TO  HIS  FUTURE  TRAVELING  COMPANIONS. — ROUTE  THROUGH 
THE   YOMUTS   AND   THE   GREAT   DESERT   DECIDED   UPON. 


"  The  Parthians  held  it  as  a  maxim  to  accord  no  passage  over  their  territory  to 
any  stranger.  ^^ — Heeren,  Manual  of  Ancient  History. 


Toward  the  middle  of  January,  1863, 1  found  my- 
self back  in  Teheran,  and  again  sharing  the  hospital- 
ity of  my  Turkish  benefactors.  A  change  came  over 
me ;  my  hesitation  was  at  an  end,  my  decision  was 
made,  my  preparations  hastened.  I  resolved,  even 
at  the  greatest  sacrifice,  to  carry  out  my  design.  It 
is  an  old  custom  of  the  Turkish  embassy  to  accord  a 
small  subsidy  to  the  hadjis  and  dervishes,  Avho  every 
year  are  in  the  habit  of  passing  in  considerable  num- 
bers through  Persia  toward  tlie  Turkish  empire. 
This  is  a  real  act  of  benevolence  for  the  poor  Sunni- 
tish  mendicants  in  Persia,  wdio  do  not  obtain  a  far- 
thing from  the  Shiitish  Persians.  The  consequence 
was,  that  the  hotel  of  the  embassy  received  guests 
from  the  most  remote  parts  of  Turkestan.  I  felt  the 
greatest  pleasure  whenever  I  saw  these  ragged  wild 
Tartars  enter  my  apartment.  They  had  it  in  their 
power  to  give  much  real  information  respecting  their 


Chap.  II.  THE  AUTHOR  A  MIDDLE-MAN.  £9 

country,  and  their  conversations  were  of  extreme  im- 
portance for  my  philological  studies.  They,  on  their 
part,  were  astonished  at  my  affability,  having  natur- 
ally no  idea  of  the  objects  which  I  had  in  view.  The 
report  was  soon  circulated  in  the  caravanserai,  to 
which  they  resorted  in  their  passage  through,  that 
Haydar  Effendi,  the  embassador  of  the  sultan,  has  a 
generous  heart;  that  Reshid  Effendi  (this  was  the 
name  I  had  assumed)  treats  the  dervishes  as  his 
brethren ;  that  he  is  probably  himself  a  dervish  in 
disguise.  As  people  entertained  those  notions,  it 
was  no  matter  of  surprise  to  me  that  the  dervishes 
who  reached  Teheran  came  first  to  me,  and  then  to 
the  minister ;  for  access  to  the  latter  was  not  always 
attainable,  and  now,  through  me,  they  had  found  a 
ready  means  of  obtaining  their  obolus,  or  the  satis- 
faction of  their  other  wishes. 

It  was  thus  that  in  the  morning  of  the  20th  of 
March  four  hadjis  came  to  me  with  the  request  that 
I  would  present  them  to  the  sultan's  envoy,  as  they 
wished  to  prefer  a  complaint  against  the  Persians 
who,  on  their  return  from  Mecca,  at  Hamadan,  had 
exacted  from  them  the  Sunni  tribute — an  exaction 
not  only  displeasing  to  the  Shah  of  Persia,  but  long- 
since  forbidden  by  the  sultan ;  for  here  it  must  be 
remarked  that  the  good  Tartars  think  that  the  whole 
world  ought  to  obey  the  chief  of  their  religion,  the 
sultan.*     "We  desire,  they  say,  "from  his  excellen- 

*  In  the  eyes  of  all  the  Sunnites,  the  lawful  khalife  (successor) 
of  Mohammed  is  he  who  is  in  possession  of  the  precious  heritage, 
which  comprises,  1st,  all  the  relics  preserved  in  Stamboul,  in  the 
Hirkai  Seadet,  e.  g.^  the  cloak,  beard,  and  teeth  of  the  Prophet, 


30  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  II. 

cy  the  embassador  no  money  ;  we  pray  only  that  for 
the  future  our  Sunnitish  brethren  may  visit  the  holy 
places  without  molestation."  Words  so  unselfish 
proceeding  from  the  mouth  of  an  Oriental  much  sur- 
prised me.  I  scrutinized  the  wild  features  of  my 
guests,  and  must  avow  that,  barbarous  as  they  seem- 
ed, wretched  as  was  their  clothing,  I  was  yet  able  to 
discover  in  them  a  something  of  nobility,  and  from 
the  first  moment  was  prepossessed  in  their  favor.  I 
had  a  long  conversation  with  them,  to  inform  my- 
self more  fully  respecting  their  companions,  and  the 
route  which  they  had  selected  to  go  to  Mecca,  and 
the  one  which  they  thought  of  taking  after  leaving 
Teheran.  The  spokesman  of  the  party  was,  for  the 
most  part,  a  hadji  from  Chinese  Tartary  (called  also 
Little  Bokhara),  who  had  concealed  his  ragged  dress 
under  a  new  green  djubbe  (over-dress),  and  wore  on 
liis  head  a  colossal  white  turban,  and,  by  his  fiery 
glance  and  quick  eye,  showed  his  superiority  over 
the  whole  body  of  his  associates.  After  having  rep- 
resented himself  as  the  court  Imam  of  the  Vang 
(Chinese  governor)  of  Aksu  (a  province  in  Chinese 
Tartary),  who  had  twice  visited  the  Holy  Sepulchre 
— hence  being  twofold  a  hadji  —  he  made  me  ac- 
quainted with  his  friend  seated  near  him,  and  gave 
me  to  understand  that  the  persons  present  Avere-to 
be  regarded  as  the  chiefs  of  the  small  hadji  caravan, 
amounting  to  twenty-four  in  all.      "Our  company," 

lost  by  him  in  a  combat;  ai'ticles  of  clothing,  Korans,  and  Aveap- 
ons  which  belonged  to  the  first  four  khalifs.  2dly,  the  posses- 
sion of  Mecca  and  Medina,  Jerusalem,  and  other  places  of  pil- 
grimage resorted  to  by  the  Islamite. 


CuAP.  II.      AUTHOR  PROPOSES  TO  JOIN  THE  HADJIS.  31 

said  their  orator,  "consists  of  young  and  old,  rich  and 
poor,  men  of  piety,  learned  men  and  laity ;  still  we 
live  together  with  the  greatest  simplicity,  since  we 
are  all  from  Khokand  and  Kashgar,  and  have  among 
us  no  Bokhariot,  no  viper  of  that  race/'  The  hos- 
tility of  the  Osbeg  (Tartar)  tribes  of  Central  Asia  to  , 
the  Tadjiks  (the  ancient  Persian  inhabitants)  had 
been  long  previously  known  to  me :  I  listened,  there- 
fore, without  making  any  comment,  and  preferred  in- 
forming myself  of  the  plan  of  their  journey  onward. 
"From  Teheran  to  our  homes,"  the  Tartars  explain- 
ed, "we  have  four  roads,  viz.,  first,  by  Astrakhan, 
Orenburg,  and  Bokhara ;  secondly,  by  Meshed,  He- 
rat, and  Bokhara ;  thirdly,  by  Meshed,  Merv,  and 
Bokhara  ;  fourthly,  through  the  Turkoman  Avilder- 
ness,  Khiva,  and  Bokhara.  The  first  two  are  too 
costly,  and  the  war  at  Herat  is  also  a  great  obstacle ; 
the  last  two,  it  is  true,  are  very  dangerous  routes. 
We  must,  nevertheless,  select  one  of  these,  and  we 
wish,  therefore,  to  ask  your  friendly  counsel." 

We  had  noAv  been  nearly  an  hour  in  conversation. 
It  was  impossible  not  to  like  their  frankness ;  and,  in 
spite  of  the  singular  lineaments  marking  their  for- 
eign origin,  their  wretched  clothing,  and  the  numer- 
ous traces  left  behind  by  their  long  and  fatiguing 
journeys — all  which  lent  a  something  forbidding  to 
their  appearance  —  I  could  not  refrain  from  the 
thought,  What  if  I  journeyed  with  these  pilgrims  into 
Central  Asia?  As  natives,  they  might  prove  my 
best  Mentors ;  besides,  they  already  know  me  as  the 
dervish  Reshid  EfFendi,  and  have  seen  me  playing 
that  part  at  the  Turkish  embassy,  and  are  themselves 


32  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  II. 

on  the  best  understanding  with  Bokhara,  the  only 
city  in  Central  Asia  that  I  really  feared  from  having 
learned  the  unhappy  lot  of  the  travelers  who  had 
preceded  me  thither.  Without  much  hesitation,  my 
resolution  was  formed.  I  knew  I  should  be  ques- 
tioned as  to  the  motives  that  actuated  me  in  under- 
taking such  a  journey.  I  knew  that  to  an  Oriental 
"pure  sang"' it  was  impossible  to  assign  a  scientific 
object.  They  would  have  considered  it  ridiculous, 
perhaps  even  suspicious,  for  an  effendi — that  is,  for 
a  gentleman  with  a  mere  abstract  object  in  view — to 
expose  himself  to  so  many  dangers  and  annoyances. 
The  Oriental  does  not  understand  the  thirst  for 
knowledge,  and  does  not  believe  much  in  its  exist- 
ence. It  would  have  been  the  height  of  impolicy  to 
shock  these  fanatical  Mussulmans  in  their  ideas.  The 
necessity  of  my  position,  therefore,  obliged  me  to  re- 
sort to  a  measure  of  policy,  of  deception,  which  I 
should  otherwise  have  scrupled  to  adopt.  It  was  at 
once  flattering  to  my  companions,  and  calculated  to 
promote  the  design  I  had  in  view.  I  told  them,  for 
instance,  that  I  had  long  silently,  but  earnestly,  de- 
sired to  visit  Turkestan  (Central  Asia),  not  merely  to 
see  the  only  source  of  Islamite  virtue  that  still  re- 
mained undefiled,  but  to  behold  the  saints  of  Khiva, 
Bokhara,  and  Samarcand.  It  was  this  idea,  I  as- 
sured them,  that  had  brought  me  hither  out  of  Koum 
(Turkey).  I  had  now  been  waiting  a  year  in  Persia, 
and  I  thanked  God  for  having  at  last  granted  me  fel- 
low-travelers such  as  they  were  (and  I  here  pointed 
to  the  Tartars),  with  whom  I  might  proceed  on  my 
way  and  accomplish  my  wish. 


Chap.  U.  AUTHOR  JOINS  THE  HADJIS.  33 

When  I  had  finished  my  speech,  the  good  Tartars 
seemed  really  surprised ;  but  they  soon  recovered 
from  their  amazement,  and  remarked  that  they  were 
now  perfectly  certain  of  what  they  before  only  sus- 
pected, my  being  a  dervish.  It  gave  them,  they  said, 
infinite  pleasure  that  I  should  regard  them  as  worthy 
of  the  friendship  that  the  undertaking  so  distant  and 
perilous  a  journey  in  their  company  implied.  "We 
are  all  ready  not  only  to  become  your  friends,  but 
your  servants,"  said  Hadji  Bilal  (such  was  the  name 
of  their  orator  above  mentioned);  "but  we  must 
still  draw  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  routes 
in  Turkestan  are  not  as  commodious  nor  as  safe  as 
those  in  Persia  and  in  Turkey.  On  that  which  we 
shall  take,  travelers  meet  often  for  weeks  with  no 
house,  no  bread,  not  even  a  drop  of  water  to  drink ; 
they  incur,  besides,  the  risk  of  being  killed,  or  taken 
prisoners  and  sold,  or  of  being  buried  alive  under 
storms  of  sand.  Ponder  well,  effendi,  the  step ! 
You  may  have  occasion  later  to  rue  it,  and  we 
would  by  no  means  wish  to  be  regarded  as  the  cause 
of  your  misfortune.  Before  all  things,  you  must 
not  forget  that  our  countrymen  at  home  are  far  be- 
hind us  in  experience  and  worldly  knowledge,  and 
that,  in  spite  of  their  hospitality,  they  invariably  re- 
gard strangers  from  afar  with  suspicion ;  and  how, 
besides,  will  you  be  able,  without  us  and  alone,  to 
perform  that  great  return  journey?"  That  these 
words  produced  a  great  impression  it  is  easy  to  im- 
agine, but  they  did  not  shake  me  in  my  purpose.  I 
made  light  of  the  apprehensions  of  my  friends,  re- 
counted to  them  how  I  had  borne  former  fatigues, 

C 


34  TEAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  II. 

how  I  felt  averse  to  all  earthly  comforts,  and  partic- 
ularly to  those  Frankish  articles  of  attire  of  which 
we  would  have  to  make  a  sacrifice.  "I  know,"  I 
said,  "that  this  world  on  earth  resembles  an  hotel,* 
in  which  we  merely  take  up  our  quarters  for  a  few 
days,  and  whence  we  soon  move  away  to  make  room 
for  others,  and  I  laugh  at  the  Mussulmans  of  the 
present  time  who  take  heed  not  merely  for  the  mo- 
ment, but  for  ten  years  of  onward  existence.  Yes, 
dear  friend,  take  me  with  you ;  I  must  hasten  away 
from  this  horrid  kingdom  of  Error,  for  I  am  too 
weary  of  it." 

My  entreaties  prevailed ;  they  could  not  resist 
me ;  I  was  consequently  immediately  chosen  by  the 
chiefs  of  the  dervish  caravan  as  a  fellow-traveler: 
we  embraced  and  kissed.  In  performing  this  cere- 
mony, I  had,  it  is  true,  some  feeling  of  aversion  to 
struggle  against.  I  did  not  like  such  close  contact 
with  those  clothes  and  bodies  impregnated  with  all 
kinds  of  odors.  Still,  my  affair  was  settled.  It 
only  now  remained  for  me  to  see  my  benefactor, 
Haydar  Effendi,  to  communicate  to  him  my  inten- 
tions, ask  him  for  his  recommendation  to  the  hadjis, 
whom  I  proposed  immediately  to  present  to  him. 

I  counted,  of  course,  at  first  upon  meeting  w^th 
great  opposition,  and  accordingly  I  was  styled  a  lu- 
natic who  wanted  to  journey  to  a  place  from  which 
few  who  had  preceded  me  had  returned ;  nor  was  I, 
they  said,  content  with  that,  but  I  must  take  for  my 

*  Mihraankhanei  pendjruzi,  "a  five  days'  hostelry,"  is  the 
name  employed  by  the  philosophers  of  the  East  to  signify  this 
earthly  abode. 


Chap.  II.  GOOD  FAITH  OF  THE  PILGRIMS.  35 

guides  men  who  for  the  smallest  coin  would  destroy 
me.  Then  they  drew  me  the  most  terrifying  pic- 
tures ;  but,  seeing  that  all  efforts  to  divert  me  from 
my  plans  were  fruitless,  they  began  to  counsel  me, 
and  in  earnest  to  consider  how  they  could  be  of  serv- 
ice in  my  enterprise.  Haydar  Effendi  received  the 
hadjis,  spoke  to  them  of  my  design  in  the  same  style 
as  I  had  used,  and  recommended  me  to  their  hospi- 
tality, with  the  remark  that  they  might  look  for  a 
return  for  any  service  rendered  by  them  to  an  effen- 
di, a  servant  of  the  sultan,  now  intrusted  to  their 
charge.  At  this  interview  I  was  not  present,  but  I 
was  informed  that  they  promised  the  faithful  per- 
formance of  their  engagement. 

The  reader  will  see  how  well  my  worthy  friends 
kept  their  promise,  and  how  the  protection  of  the 
excellent  Envoy  of  Turkey  was  the  means  of  saving 
my  life  so  often  threatened,  and  that  it  was  always 
the  good  faith  of  my  pilgrim  companions  that  res- 
cued me  from  the  most  critical  positions.  In  the 
course  of  conversation,  I  was  told  that  Haydar  Ef- 
fendi, when  Bokhara  came  under  discussion,  express- 
ed his  disapprobation  of  the  policy  of  the  emir.* 
He  afterward  demanded  the  entire  list  of  all  the 
poor  travelers,  to  whom  he  gave  about  fifteen  duc- 
ats— a  magnificent  donation  to  these  people,  who 
sought  no  greater  luxury  in  the  world  than  bread 
and  water. 

It  was  fixed  that  we  should  begin  our  journey  a 
week  later.     In  the  interval,  Hadji  Bilal  alone  vis- 

*  Emir  is  a  title  given  to  the  sovereign  of  Bokhara,  whereas 
the  princes  of  Khiva  and  Khokand  are  styled  khans. 


36  TEAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap,  II. 

ited  me,  whicli  he  did  very  frequently,  presenting  to 
me  his  countrymen  from  Aksu  Yarkend  and  Kash- 
gar.  They  looked  to  me,  indeed,  rather  like  adven- 
turers, dreadfully  disfigured,  than  as  pious  pilgrims. 
He  expressed  especial  interest  in  his  adopted  son, 
Abdul  Kader,  a  bumpkin  of  the  age  of  twenty-five 
years,  whom  he  recommended  to  me  as  "famulus." 
"He  is,"  said  Hadji  Bilal,  "a  faithful  fellow;  al- 
though awkward,  he  may  learn  much  from  you  ; 
make  use  of  him  during  your  journey ;  he  will  bake 
bread  and  make  tea  for  you,  occupations  that  he 
very  well  understands."  Hadji  Bilal's  real  object, 
however,  was  not  merely  that  he  should  bake  my 
bread,  but  help  me  to  eat  it ;  for  he  had  with  him  a 
second  adopted  son  on  the  journey,  and  the  two,  with 
appetites  sharpened  by  their  wanderings  on  foot, 
were  too  heavy  a  burden  upon  the  resources  of  my 
friend.  I  promised  to  accede  to  their  request,  and 
they  were  accordingly  delighted.  To  say  the  truth, 
the  frequent  visits  of  Hadji  Bilal  had  made  me  a  lit- 
tle suspicious ;  for  I  readily  thought  this  man  sup- 
poses that  in  me  he  has  had  a  good  catch;  he  takes  a 
great  deal  of  trouble  to  get  me  with  him ;  he  dreads 
my  not  carrying  out  my  intentions.  But  no,  I  dare 
not,  I  will  not  think  ill  of  him  ;  and  so,  to  convince 
him  of  my  unbounded  confidence,  I  showed  the  little 
sum  of  money  that  I  was  taking  with  me  for  the  ex- 
penses of  the  journey,  and  begged  him  to  instruct 
me  as  to  what  mien,  dress,  and  manners  I  ought  to 
assume  to  make  myself  as  much  as  possible  like  my 
traveling  companions,  in  order  that  by  doing  so  I 
might  escape  unceasing  observation.     This  request 


Chap.  II.  VISIT  TO  THE  TARTAR  HADJIS.  37 

of  mine  was  very  agreeable  to  him,  and  it  is  easy  to 
conceive  how  singular  a  schooling  I  then  received. 

Before  all  things  he  counseled  me  to  shave  my 
head,  and  exchange  my  then  Turkish-European  cos- 
tume for  one  of  Bokhara ;  as  far  as  possible  to  dis- 
pense with  bedclothes,  linen,  and  all  such  articles  of 
luxury.  I  followed  exactly  his  direction,  and  my 
equipment,  being  of  a  very  modest  nature,  was  very 
soon  made  ;  and  three  days  before  the  appointed  day 
I  stood  ready  prepared  for  my  great  adventure. 

In  the  mean  time  I  went  one  day  to  the  caravan- 
serai, where  my  traveling  companions  were  quartered, 
to  return  their  visit.  They  occupied  two  little  cells ; 
in  one  were  fourteen,  in  the  other  ten  persons.  They 
seemed  to  me  dens  filled  with  filth  and  misery.  That 
impression  will  never  leave  me.  Few  had  adequate 
means  to  proceed  with  their  journey ;  for  the  major- 
ity their  beggar"'s  stafii'was  the  sole  resource.  I  found 
them  engaged  in  an  occupation  of  the  toilet  which 
I  will  not  offend  the  reader  by  recording,  although 
the  necessity  of  the  case  obliged  me  myself  later  to 
resort  to  it. 

They  gave  me  the  heartiest  reception,  offered  me 
green  tea,  and  I  had  to  go  through  the  torture  of 
drinking  without  sugar  a  large  Bokhariot  bowl  of 
the  greenish  water.  Worse  still,  they  wished  to  in- 
sist upon  my  swallowing  a  second ;  but  I  begged  to 
be  excused.  I  was  now  permitted  even  to  embrace 
my  new  associates ;  by  each  I  was  saluted  as  a  broth- 
er ;  and  after  having  broken  bread  with  them  indi- 
vidually, we  sat  down  in  a  circle  in  order  to  take 
counsel  as  to  the  route  to  be  chosen.     As  I  before 


38  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Cuap.  II. 

remarked,  we  had  the  choice  between  two  ;  both  peril- 
ous, and  trversing  the  desert  home  of  the  Turkomans, 
the  only  difference  being  that  of  the  tribes  through 
which  they  pass.  The  way  by  Meshed,  Merv,  and 
Bokhara  was  the  shortest,  but  would  entail  the  ne- 
cessity of  proceeding  through  the  midst  of  the  Tekke 
tribes,  the  most  savage  of  all  the  Turkomans,  who 
spare  no  man,  and  who  would  not  hesitate  to  sell 
into  slavery  the  Prophet  himself,  did  he  fall  into 
their  hands.  On  the  other  route  are  the  Yomut 
Turkomans,  an  honest,  hospitable  people.  Still,  that 
would  necessitate  a  passage  of  forty  stations  through 
the  desert,  without  a  single  spring  of  sweet  drinking 
water.  After  some  observations  had  been  made,  the 
route  through  the  Yomuts,  the  Great  Desert,  Khiva, 
and  Bokhara  was  selected.  "It  is  better,  my  friends, 
to  battle  asfainst  the  wickedness  of  the  elements  than 

o 

against  that  of  men.  God  is  gracious ;  we  are  on 
His  way;  He  will  certainly  not  abandon  us.''  To 
seal  their  determination,  Hadji  Bilal  invoked  a  bless- 
ing, and  while  he  was  speaking  we  all  raised  our 
hands  in  the  air,  and  when  he  came  to  an  end  every 
one  seized  his  beard,  and  said  aloud  "Amen!"  We 
rose  from  our  seats,  and  they  told  me  to  make  my 
appearance  there  two  days  after,  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, to  take  our  departure  together.  I  returned 
home,  and  during  these  two  days  I  had  a  severe  and 
a  violent  struggle  with  myself  I  thought  of  the 
dangers  that  encircled  my  way,  of  the  fruits  that  my 
travels  might  produce.  I  sought  to  probe  the  mo- 
tives that  actuated  me,  and  to  judge  whether  they 
justified  my  daring ;  but  I  was  like  one  bewitched 


Chap.  II.        AUTHOR  PERSISTS  IN  HIS  ADVENTURE.  39 

and  incapable  of  reflection.  In  vain  did  men  try  to 
persuade  me  that  the  mask  they  bore  alone  prevent- 
ed me  from  perceiving  the  real  depravity  of  my  new 
associates ;  in  vain  did  they  seek  to  deter  me  by  the 
unfortunate  fate  of  Conolly,  Stoddart,  and  Moorcroft, 
with  the  more  recent  mishaps  of  Blocqueville,  who 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Turkomans,  and  who  was 
only  redeemed  from  slavery  by  the  payment  of  10,000 
ducats :  their  cases  I  only  regarded  as  accidental,  and 
they  inspired  me  with  little  apprehension.  I  had 
only  one  misgiving,  whether  I  had  enough  physical 
strength  to  endure  the  hardships  arising  from  the 
elements,  unaccustomed  food,  bad  clothing,  without 
the  shelter  of  a  roof,  and  without  any  change  of  at- 
tire by  night ;  and  how  then  should  I,  with  my  lame- 
ness, be  able  to  journey  on  foot — I,  who  was  liable 
to  be  tired  so  soon  ?  and  here  for  me  was  the  chief 
hazard  and  risk  of  my  adventure.  Need  I  say  which 
side  in  this  mental  struggle  gained  the  victory? 

The  evening  previous  I  bade  adieu  to  my  friends 
at  the  Turkish  embassy ;  the  secret  of  the  journey 
was  intrusted  but  to  two ;  and  whereas  the  European 
residents  believed  I  was  going  to  Meshed,  I  left  Te- 
heran to  continue  my  course  in  the  direction  of  As- 
trabad  and  the  Caspian  Sea. 


40  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  HI. 


CHAPTER  III. 


DEPARTTJEE  FEOM  TEHERAN  IN  A  NOETHEASTEKLT  DIRECnON. — THE  COJIPO- 
NENT  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CARAVAN  DESCRIBED. — ILL  FEELING  OF  SHIITES  TO- 
WARD THE  SUNNITISH  HADJIS. — MAZENDRAN. — ZIRAB. —  HEFTEN. —  TIGERS 
AND  JACKALS. — SARI. — KAEATEPE. 


*'  Beyond  the  Caspian's  iron  gates.'^ — Moore. 


On  the  morning  of  the  28th  of  March,  1863,  at  an 
early  hour,  I  proceeded  to  our  appointed  rendezvous, 
the  caravanserai.  Those  of  my  friends  whose  means 
permitted  them  to  hire  a  mule  or  an  ass  as  far  as  the 
Persian  frontiers  were  ready  booted  and  spurred  for 
their  journey ;  those  who  had  to  toil  forward  on  foot 
had  on  already  their  jaruk  (a  covering  for  the  feet  ap- 
propriate for  infantry),  and  seemed,  with  their  date- 
wood  staves  in  their  hands,  to  await  with  great  im- 
patience the  signal  for  departure.  To  my  great 
amazement,  I  saw  that  the  wretched  clothing  which 
they  wore  at  Teheran  was  really  their  city,  that  is, 
their  best  holiday  costume.  This  they  did  not  use 
on  ordinary  occasions ;  every  one  had  now  substitu- 
ted his  real  traveling  dress,  consisting  of  a  thousand 
rags  fastened  round  the  loins  by  a  cord.  Yesterday 
I  regarded  myself  in  my  clothing  as  a  beggar ;  to- 
day, in  the  midst  of  them,  I  was  a  king  in  his  royal 
robes.  At  last  Hadji  Bilal  raised  his  hand  for  the 
parting  benediction ;  and  hardly  had  every  one  seized 


Chap.  III.       DEPARTURE  FROM  TEHERAN.  41 

his  beard  to  say  "Amen,"  when  the  pedestrians 
rushed  out  of  the  gate,  hastening  with  rapid  strides 
to  get  the  start  of  us  who  were  mounted.  Our 
march  was  directed  toward  the  northeast  from  Tehe- 
ran to  Sari,  which  we  were  to  reach  in  eight  stations. 
We  turned  therefore  toward  Djadjerud  and  Firuz- 
kuh,  leaving  Taushantepe,  the  little  hunting-seat  of 
the  king,  on  our  left,  and  were,  in  an  hour,  at  the  en- 
trance of  the  mountainous  pass  where  one  loses  sight 
of  the  plain  and  city  of  Teheran.  By  an  irresistible 
impulse  I  turned  round.  The  sun  was  already,  to  use 
an  Oriental  expression,  a  lance  high,  and  its  beams 
illuminated,  not  Teheran  alone,  but  the  distant  gild- 
ed dome  of  Shah  Abdul  Azim.  At  this  season  of 
the  year,  Nature  in  Teheran  already  assumes  all  her 
green  luxuriance ;  and  I  must  confess  that  the  city, 
which  the  year  before  had  made  so  disagreeable  an 
impression  upon  me,  appeared  to  me  now  dazzlingly 
beautiful.  This  glance  of  mine  was  an  adieu  to  the 
last  outpost  of  European  civilization.  I  had  now  to 
confront  the  extremes  of  savageness  and  barbarism. 
I  felt  deeply  moved ;  and  that  my  companions  might 
not  remark  my  emotion,  I  turned  my  horse  aside  into 
the  mountainous  defile. 

In  the  mean  time  my  companions  were  beginning 
to  recite  aloud  passages  from  the  Koran,  and  to  chant 
telkins  (hymns),  as  is  seemly  for  genuine  pilgrims  to 
do.  They  excused  me  from  taking  part  in  these,  as 
they  knew  that  the  Roumis  (Osmanli)  wei^e  not  so 
strictly  and  religiously  educated  as  the  people  in 
Turkestan  ;  and  they  besides  hoped  that  I  should  re- 
ceive the  necessary  inspiration  by  contact  with  their 


42  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Ciiap.IU. 

society.  I  followed  them  at  a  slow  pace,  and  will 
now  endeavor  to  give  a  description  of  them,  for  the 
double  motive  that  we  are  to  travel  so  long  together, 
and  that  they  are  in  reality  the  most  honest  people 
I  shall  ever  meet  with  in  those  parts.  There  were, 
then, 

1.  Hadji  Bilal,  from  Aksu  (Chinese  Tartary),  and 
court  imam  of  the  Chinese  Mussulman  governor  of 
the  same  province:  with  him  were  his  adopted  sons, 

2.  Hadji  Isa,  a  lad  in  his  sixteenth  year,  and 

3.  Hadji  Abdul  Kader,  before  mentioned,  in  the 
company,  and,  so  to  say,  under  the  protection  of  Had- 
ji Bilal.     There  were,  besides, 

4.  Hadji  Yusuf,  a  rich  Chinese  Tartar  peasant, 
with  his  nephew, 

5.  Hadji  Ali,  a  lad  in  his  tenth  year,  with  little, 
diminutive  Kirghish  eyes.  The  last  two  had  eighty 
ducats  for  their  traveling  expenses,  and  therefore 
were  styled  rich ;  still  this  was  kept  a  secret :  they 
hired  a  horse  for  joint  use,  and  when  one  was  riding 
the  other  walked. 

6.  Hadji  Amed,  a  poor  mollah,  who  performed  his 
pilgrimage  leaning  upon  his  beggar's  staff.  Similar 
in  character  and  position  was 

7.  Hadji  Hasan,  whose  father  had  died  on  the 
journey,  and  who  was  returning  home  an  orphan ; 

8.  Hadji  Yakoub,  a  mendicant  from  profession,  a 
profession  inherited  by  him  from  his  father ; 

9.  Hadji  Kurhan  (senior),  a  peasant  by  birth,  who, 
as  a  knife-grinder,  had  traversed  the  whole  of  Asia, 
had  been  as  far  as  Constantinople  and  Mecca,  had 
visited    upon    occasions    Thibet    and   Calcutta,  and 


CuAP.  III.  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  PILGKIMS.  43 

twice  the  Kirghish  Steppes,  to  Orenburg  and  Tagan- 
rok; 

10.  Hadji  Kurban,  Avho  also  had  lost  his  father 
and  brother  on  the  journey ; 

11.  Hadji  Said ;  and 

12.  Hadji  Ahdur  Rahman^  2tXi  infirm  lad  of  the  age 
of  fourteen  years,  whose  feet  were  badly  frozen  in  the 
snow  of  Hamadan,  and  who  suffered  fearfully  the 
whole  way  to  Samarcand. 

The  above-named  pilgrims  were  from  Khokand, 
Yarkend,  and  Aksu,  two  adjacent  districts ;  conse- 
quently they  were  Chinese  Tartars,  belonging  to  the 
suite  of  Hadji  Bilal,  who  was,  besides,  upon  friendly 
terms  with 

13.  Hadji  Sheikh  Sidtan  Mahmoud,  from  Kashgar, 
a  young,  enthusiastic  Tartar,  belonging  to  the  family 
of  a  renowned  saint,  Hazreti  Afak,  whose  tomb  is  in 
Kashgar.  The  father  of  my  friend  Sheikh  Sultan 
Mahmoud  was  a  poet ;  Mecca  was  in  imagination  his 
child  :  after  the  sufferings  of  long  years  he  reached 
the  holy  city,  where  he  died.  His  son  had  conse- 
quently a  double  object  in  his  pilgrimage :  he  pro- 
ceeded as  pilgrim  alike  to  the  tombs  of  his  prophet 
and  his  father.     With  him  were 

14.  Hadji  Husein,  his  relative,  and 

15.  Hadji  Ahmed,  formerly  a  Chinese  soldier,  be- 
longino;  to  the  re":iment  Shiva,  that  bears  muskets 
and  consists  of  Mussulmans. 

From  the  Khanat  Khokand  were 

16.  Hadji  Salih  Khalifed,candid£ite  for  the  ishan, 
which  signifies  the  title  of  sheikh,  consequently  be- 
longing to  a  semi-religious  order;  an  excellent  man. 


44  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  m. 

of  whom  we  shall  have  often  occasion  to  speak.     He 
was  attended  by  his  son, 

17.  Hadji  Abdul  BaJci,  and  his  brother 

18.  Hadji  Abdid  Kader  the  Medjzub^  Avhich  means 
"impelled  by  the  love  of  God,"  and  who,  whenever 
he  has  shouted  two  thousand  times  "Allah,"  foams 
at  the  mouth  and  falls  into  a  state  of  ecstatic  bless- 
edness (Europeans  name  this  state  epilepsy). 

19.  Hadji  Kari  Mes Slid  (Kari  has  the  same  signifi- 
cation in  Turkey  as  Hafiz,  one  who  knows  the  whole 
Koran  by  heart).     He  was  with  his  son, 

20.  Hadji  Gayaseddin; 

21.  Hadji  Mirza  Ali,  and 

22.  Hadji  AhrarJcidi:  the  bags  of  the  two  last- 
named  pilgrims  still  contained  some  of  their  travel- 
ing provision  in  money,  and  they  had  a  beast  hired 
between  them. 

23.  Hadji  Nur  Mohammed^  a  merchant  who  had 
been  twice  to  Mecca,  but  not  on  his  own  account, 
only  as  representing  another. 

We  advanced  up  the  slopes  of  the  chain  of  the  El- 
burs  Mountains,  which  rose  higher  and  higher.  The 
depression  of  spirits  in  which  I  was  was  remarked 
by  my  friends,  who  did  all  in  their  power  to  comfort 
me.  It  was,  however,  particularly  Hadji  Salih  who 
encouraged  me  with  the  assurance  that  "they  would 
all  feel  for  me  the  love  of  brothers,  and  the  hope 
that,  by  the  aid  of  God,  we  should  soon  be  at  liberty 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  Shiite  heretics,  and  be  able 
to  live  comfortably  in  lands  subject  to  the  Sunnite 
Turkomans,  who  are  followers  of  the  same  faith."  A 
pleasant  prospect  certainly,  thought  I ;   and  I  rode 


Chap.  III.  CHEERFULNESS  OF  THE  PILGRIMS.  45 

more  quickly  on  in  order  to  mix  with  the  poor  trav- 
elers who  were  preceding  us  on  foot.  Half  an  hour 
later  I  came  up  with  them.  I  noticed  how  cheerful- 
ly they  wended  their  way — men  who  had  journeyed 
on  foot  from  the  remotest  Turkestan  to  Mecca,  and 
back  again  on  foot.  While  many  were  singing  mer- 
ry songs  which  had  great  resemblance  to  those  of 
Hungary,  others  were  recounting  the  adventures  they 
had  gone  through  in  the  course  of  their  wanderings 
— a  conversation  which  occasioned  me  great  pleas- 
ure, as  it  served  to  make  me  acquainted  with  the 
modes  of  thought  of  those  distant  tribes,  so  that  at 
the  very  moment  of  my  departure  from  Teheran  I 
found  myself,  so  to  say,  in  the  midst  of  Central  Asi- 
atic life. 

During  the  daytime  it  was  tolerably  warm,  but  it 
froze  hard  in  the  early  morning  hours,  particularly  in 
the  mountainous  districts.  I  could  not  support  the 
cold  in  my  thin  clothing  on  horseback,  so  I  was  forced 
to  dismount  to  warm  myself.  I  handed  my  horse 
over  to  one  of  the  pedestrian  pilgrims.  He  gave  me 
his  stick  in  exchange,  and  so  I  accompanied  them  a 
long  way  on  foot,  hearing  the  most  animated  descrip- 
tions of  their  homes  ;  and  when  their  enthusiasm  had 
been  sufficiently  stimulated  by  reminiscences  of  the 
'gardens  of  Mergolan,  Namengan,  and  Khokand,  they 
all  began  with  one  accord  to  sing  a  telkin  (hymn), 
in  which  I  myself  took  part  by  screaming  out  as  loud 
as  I  was  able,  "Allah,  ya  Allah!" 

Every  such  approximation  to  their  sentiments 
and  actions  on  my  part  Avas  recounted  by  the  young 
travelers  to  the  older  pilgrims,  to  the  great  delight 


46  TKAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.       Chap.  III. 

of  the  latter,  who  never  ceased  repeating  "Hadji  Ke- 
shid  (my  name  among  my  companions)  is  a  genuine 
dervish ;   one  can  make  any  thing  out  of  him." 

After  a  rather  long  day's  march,  on  the  fourth  day 
we  reached  Firuzkuh,  which  lies  rather  high,  and  is 
approached  by  a  very  bad  road.  The  city  is  at  the 
foot  of  a  mountain,  which  is  crowned  by  an  ancient 
fortification,  now  in  ruins — a  city  of  some  import- 
ance, from  the  fact  that  there  the  province  Arak 
Adjemi  ends,  and  Mazendran  begins.  The  next 
morning  our  way  passed  in  quite  a  northerly  direc- 
tion, and  we  had  scarcely  proceeded  three  or  four 
hours  when  we  reached  the  mouth  of  the  great  defile, 
properly  called  Mazendran,  which  extends  as  far  as 
the  shores  of  the  Caspian.  Scarcely  does  the  travel- 
er move  a  few  steps  forward  from  the  caravanserai 
on  the  top  of  the  mountain,  when  the  bare  dry  dis- 
trict changes,  as  by  enchantment,  into  a  country  of 
extraordinary  richness  and  luxuriance.  One  forgets 
that  one  is  in  Persia  on  seeing  around  every  where 
the  splendor  of  those  primaeval  forests  and  that  mag- 
nificent green.  But  why  linger  over  Mazendran  and 
all  its  beauties,  rendered  so  familiar  to  us  by  the 
masterly  sketches  of  Frazer,  Conolly,  and  Burnes  ? 

On  our  passage  Mazendran  was  in  its  gala  attire 
of  spring.  Its  witchery  made  the  last  spark  of ' 
trouble  disappear  from  my  thoughts.  I  reflected  no 
more  on  the  perils  of  my  undertaking,  but  allowed 
imagination  to  dwell  only  upon  sweet  dreams  of  the 
regions  through  which  lay  my  onward  jDath,  visions 
of  the  various  races  of  men,  customs,  and  usages 
which  I  was  noAv  to  see.     I  must  expect  to  behold. 


Chap.  III.  MAZENDRAN.— ZIRAB.  47 

it  is  true,  scenes  a  perfect  contrast  to  these ;  I  must 
anticipate  immense  and  fearful  deserts — plains  whose 
limits  are  not  distinguishable  to  the  human  eye,  and 
where  I  should  have  for  days  long  to  suffer  from 
want  of  water.  The  enjoyment  of  that  spot  was 
doubly  agreeable,  as  I  was  so  soon  to  bid  adieu  to 
all  sylvan  scenes. 

Mazendran  had  its  charms  even  for  my  compan- 
ions. Their  feelings  found  expression  in  regrets  that 
this  lovely  djennet  (paradise)  should  have  become 
the  possession  of  the  heretical  Shiites.  "How  sin- 
gular,'' said  Hadji  Bilal,  "  that  all  the  beautiful  spots 
in  nature  should  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
unbelievers !  The  Prophet  had  reason  to  say,  '  This 
world  is  the  prison  of  the  believers,  and  the  paradise 
of  the  unbelievers.'"*  In  proof,  he  cited  Hindoo- 
stan,  where  the  "Inghiliz"  reign,  the  beauties  of  Rus- 
sia which  he  had  seen,  and  Frenghistan,  that  had 
been  described  to  him  as  an  earthly  paradise.  Hadji 
Sultan  sought  to  console  the  company  by  a  reference 
to  the  mountainous  districts  that  lie  between  Oosh 
(boundaries  of  Khokand)  and  Kashgar.  He  repre- 
sented that  place  to  me  as  far  more  lovely  than  Ma- 
zendran, but  I  can  hardly  believe  it. 

At  the  station  Zirab  we  came  to  the  northern  ex- 
tremity of  the  mountainous  pass  of  Mazendran. 
Here  the  immense  woods  begin  which  mark  the  lim- 
its of  the  shore  of  the  Caspian  Sea.  We  pass  along 
a  causeway  made  by  Shah  Abbas,  but  which  is  fast 
decaying.  Our  night  quarters — we  reached  them  be- 
times— was  Heften,  in  the  middle  of  a  beautiful  for- 
*  "  Ed  diinya  sidjn  ill  mxiraenin,  ve  djennet  ill  kafirin." 


48  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  Ill 

est  of  boxwood.  Our  young  people  started  off  in 
quest  of  a  good  spring  of  water  for  our  tea ;  but  all 
at  once  we  heard  a  fearful  cry  of  distress.  They 
came  flying  back,  and  recounted  to  us  that  they  had 
seen  animals  at  the  source,  which  sprang  away  with 
long  bounds  when  they  approached  them.  At  first  I 
thought  they  must  be  lions,  and  I  seized  a  rusty 
sword,  and  found,  in  the  direction  they  had  described, 
but  at  a  good  distance  off,  two  splendid  tigers,  whose 
beautifully-striped  forms  made  themselves  visible  oc- 
casionally from  the  thickets.  In  this  forest  the  peas- 
ants told  me  that  there  were  numbers  of  wild  beasts, 
but  they  very  rarely  attacked  human  beings.  At 
all  events,  we  were  not  molested  by  the  jackals,  who 
even  dread  a  stick,  but  which  are  here  so  numerous 
that  we  can  not  drive  them  away.  There  are  jackals 
throughout  all  Persia ;  they  are  not  uncommon  even 
in  Teheran,  where  their  howling  is  heard  in  the  even- 
ings. But  still,  they  did  not  there  approach  men,  as 
they  did  here.  They  disturbed  me  the  whole  night 
long.  I  was  obliged,  in  self-defense,  to  use  both 
hands  and  feet  to  prevent  their  making  off  with 
bread-sack  or  a  shoe. 

The  next  day  we  had  to  reach  Sari,  the  capital  of 
Mazendran.  Not  far  from  the  wayside  lies  Sheikh 
Tabersi,  a  place  long  defended  by  the  Babis  (religious 
enthusiasts  who  denied  Mohammed  and  preached  so- 
cialism). They  made  themselves  the  terror  of  the 
neighborhood.  Here  also  are  beautiful  gardens,  pro- 
ducing in  exuberance  crops  of  oranges  and  lemons. 
Their  fruit,  tinted  with  yellow  and  red,  presented  an 
enchanting  contrast  with  the  green  of  the  trees.     Sari 


Chap.  III.  SARI.— KARATEPE.  49 

itself  has  no  beauty  to  recommend  it,  but  is  said  to 
carry  on  an  important  trade.  As  we  traversed  the 
bazar  of  this  last  Persian  city,  we  received  also  the 
last  flood  of  every  possible  imprecation  and  abuse; 
nor  did  I  leave  their  insolence  without  rebuke,  al- 
though I  judged  it  better  not  to  repeat  my  threaten- 
ing movements  of  stick  or  sword  in  the  centre  of  a 
bazar  and  amid  hundreds  of  Shiites. 

We  only  remained  in  Sari  long  enough  to  find 
horses  to  hire  for  a  day's  journey  to  the  sea-shore. 
The  road  passes  through  many  marshes  and  morass- 
es. It  is  impossible  to  perform  the  journey  here  on 
foot.  From  this  point  there  are  many  ways  by 
which  we  can  reach  the  shore  of  the  Caspian,  e.  g.^ 
by  Ferahabad  (Parabad,  as  it  is  called  by  the  Turko- 
mans), Gez,  and  Karatepe.  We  preferred,  however, 
the  last  route,  because  it  would  lead  us  to  a  Sunnite 
colony,  where  we  were  certain  of  a  hospitable  recep- 
tion, having  already  had  opportunities  of  becoming 
acquainted  with  many  of  these  colonists  at  Sari,  and 
having  found  them  good  people. 

After  a  rest  of  two  days  in  Sari  we  started  for 
Karatepe.  It  was  not  until  evening,  after  a  labori- 
ous journey  of  nine  hours,  that  we  arrived.  Here  it 
is  that  the  Turkomans  first  become  objects  of  terror. 
Piratical  hordes  of  them  hide  their  vessels  along  the 
coast,  whence  extending  their  expeditions  to  a  dis- 
tance of  a  few  leagues  into  the  interior,  they  often  re- 
turn to  the  shore,  dragging  a  Persian  or  so  in  bonds. 

i) 


50  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chai\IV. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


KABATEPE. — AUTHOR  ENTERTAINED   BY  AN   AFGHAN,  NTTR-ULLAH. — SUSPICIONS 
AS  TO  HIS  DERVISH  CHARACTER. — HADJIS   PROVISION  THEMSELVES  FOR   THE 

JOURNEY  THROUGH  THE    DESERT. AFGHAN  COLONY. NADIR    SHAH. FIRST 

VIEW  OF  THE  CASPIAN. YACOUB,  THE  TURKOMAN  BOATMAN. LOVE  TALIS- 
MAN.— EMBARKATION  FOR  ASHOURADA. — VOYAGE  ON  THE  CASPIAN. — RUS- 
SIAN PART  OF  ASHOURADA. — RUSSIAN  WAR  STEAMERS  IN  THE  CASPIAN. — 
TURKOMAN  CHIEF  IN  THE  SERVICE  OF  RUSSIA. — APPREHENSION  OP  DIS- 
COVERY ON  THE  author's  PART. — ARRIVAL  AT  GOMUSHTEPE  AND  AT  THE 
MOUTH   OF   THE   GORGHEN. 


"  Ultra  Caspium  sinum  quidnam  esset,  ambiguum  aliquamdiu  fait.^' — Pompo- 
nius  Mela,  De  Situ  Orbis. 


Nur-Ullah,  an  Afghan  of  distinction,  whose  ac- 
quaintance I  had  already  formed  at  Sari,  conducted 
me  to  his  house  on  my  arrival  at  Karatepe ;  and  as 
I  objected  to  be  separated  from  all  my  friends,  he  in- 
cluded Hadji  Bilal  also  in  his  invitation,  and  did  not 
rest  until  I  had  accepted  his  hospitality.  At  first  I 
could  not  divine  the  motive  of  his  extraordinary 
kindness,  but  I  observed  a  little  later  that  he  had 
heard  of  the  footing  upon  which  I  stood  at  the  Turk- 
ish embassy  in  Teheran,  and  he  wished  me  to  repay 
his  kindness  by  a  letter  of  recommendation,  which 
I  promised,  and  very  willingly  gave  him  before  we 
parted. 

I  had  hardly  taken  possession  of  my  new  abode 
when  the  room  filled  with  visitors,  who  squatted 
down  in  a  row  all  round  against  the  walls,  first  star- 


Chap.  IV.  AUTHOR'S  REAL  CHARACTER  SUSPECTED.  51 

ing  at  me  with  their  eyes  wide  open,  then  communi- 
cating to  each  other  the  results  of  their  observations, 
and  then  uttering  aloud  their  judgment  upon  the  ob- 
ject of  my  traveling.  "A  dervish,"  said  the  major- 
ity, "he  is  not ;  his  appearance  is  any  thing  but  that 
of  a  dervish ;  for  the  wretchedness  of  his  dress  con- 
trasts too  plainly  with  his  features  and  his  complex- 
ion. As  the  hadjis  told  us,  he  must  be  a  relative  of 
the  embassador,  who  represents  our  sultan  at  Tehe- 
ran," and  here  all  stood  up.  "Allah  only  knows 
what  a  man  who  issues  from  so  hio;h  an  ori<2;in  has 
to  do  among  the  Turkomans  in  Khiva  and  Bokhara.'" 
This  impudence  amazed  me  not  a  little.  At  the 
first  glance  they  wanted  to  tear  the  mask  from  my 
face ;  in  the  mean  time  I  was  acting  the  genuine 
part  of  an  Oriental,  sat  seemingly  buried  in  thought, 
with  the  air  of  one  who  heard  nothing.  As  I  took 
no  part  in  the  conversation,  they  turned  to  Hadji 
Bilal,  who  told  them  I  was  really  an  effendi,  a  func- 
tionary of  the  sultan,  but  had  withdrawn  myself,  in 
pursuance  of  a  divine  inspiration,  from  the  decep- 
tions of  the  world,  and  was  now  engaged  with  ziaret 
(a  pilgrimage  to  the  tombs  of  the  saints) ;  where- 
upon many  shook  their  heads,  nor  could  this  subject 
any  more  be  broached.  The  true  Mussulman  must 
never  express  a  doubt  when  he  is  told  of  divine  in- 
spiration (ilham) ;  and,  however  speaker  or  listener 
may  be  convinced  that  there  is  imposture,  they  are 
still  bound  to  express  their  admiration  by  a  "Mash- 
allah!  Mashallah  !"  This  first  scene  had,  however, 
clearly  unfolded  to  me  that,  although  still  on  Per- 
sian soil,  I  had  nevertheless  at  last  gained  the  fron- 


52  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  IV. 

tiers  of  Central  Asia  ;  for  on  hearing  the  distrustful 
inquiries  of  these  few  Sunnites — inquiries  never  made 
in  any  part  of  Persia — I  could  easily  picture  to  my- 
self the  splendid  future  in  store  for  me  farther  on  in 
the  very  nest  of  this  people.  It  was  not  until  two 
hours  had  elapsed,  spent  in  chattering  and  question- 
ing, that  these  visitors  retired  and  we  prepared  tea, 
and  then  betook  ourselves  to  repose.  I  was  tryin^r 
to  sleep,  when  a  man  in  a  Turkoman  dress,  whom  I 
regarded  as  a  member  of  the  family,  came  near  me, 
and  began  to  tell  me,  in  strict  confidence,  that  he  had 
traveled  the  last  fifteen  years  on  business  matters  to 
and  from  Khiva;  that  he  was  born  at  Khandahar, 
but  that  he  had  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  country 
of  Ozbeg  and  Bokhara ;  and  then  proposed  that  we 
should  be  friends,  and  make  the  journey  together 
through  the  Great  Desert.  I  replied,  "All  believ- 
ers are  brethren,"*  and  thanked  him  for  his  friendli- 
ness, with  the  observation  that  as  a  dervish  I  was 
very  much  attached  to  my  traveling  companions. 
He  seemed  desirous  to  continue  the  conversation ; 
but,  as  I  let  him  perceive  how  inclined  I  was  to 
sleep,  he  left  me  to  my  slumbers. 

Next  morning  Nur-Ullah  informed  me  that  this 
man  was  a  tiryaki  (opium-eater),  a  scapegrace,  Avhom 
I  should,  as  much  as  possible,  avoid.  At  the  same 
time  he  warned  me  that  Karatepe  was  the  only  place 
for  procuring  our  stock  of  flour  for  a  journey  of  two 
months,  as  even  the  Turkomans  themselves  got  their 
provisions  in  this  place ;  and  that,  at  all  events,  we 
must  furnish  ourselves  with  bread  to  last  us  as  far  as 
*  "  Kulli  mumenin  ilivetun." 


CuAP.  IV.  AFGHAN  COLONY.  53 

Khiva.  I  left  this  to  Hadji  Bilal  to  manage  for  me, 
and  ascended  in  the  mean  time  the  black  hill  which 
is  situated  in  the  village,  and  from  which  it  derives 
its  name,  Karatepe.  One  side  is  peopled  by  Per- 
sians, the  other  by  125  or  150  Afghan  families.  It 
is  said  that  this  Afghan  colony  was  at  the  beginning 
of  this  century  of  far  more  importance  than  at  pres- 
ent, and  was  founded  by  the  last  great  conqueror  of 
the  Asiatic  world,  Nadir  Shah,  who,  as  is  well  known, 
accomplished  his  most  heroic  actions  at  the  head  of 
the  Afghans  and  Turkomans.  Here  also  was  point- 
ed out  to  me  the  spot  on  the  hill  where  he  sat  when 
he  passed  in  review  the  thousands  of  wild  horsemen 
who  flocked  from  the  farthest  recesses  of  the  desert, 
with  their  good  horses  and  thirsty  swords,  under  his 
banners.  On  these  occasions  Nadir  is  described  as 
always  having  been  in  a  good  humor ;  so  Karatepe 
had  its  holidays.  The  precise  object  of  the  trans- 
plantation of  this  Sunnite  colony  is  unknown  to  me, 
but  its  existence  has  been  found  to  be  of  the  greatest 
service,  as  the  Afghans  serve  as  negotiators  between 
Turkomans  and  Persians,  and  without  them  many 
a  Persian  would  languish,  for  months  in  Turkoman 
bonds,  without  any  medium  existing  by  which  his 
ransom  could  be  effected.  On  the  east  of  Persia 
similar  services  are  rendered  by  the  Sunnites  of 
Khaf,  Djam,  and  Bakhyrz,  but  these  have  to  deal 
with  the  Tekke,  a  far  more  dangerous  tribe  than  the 
Yomuts. 

From  the  summit  of  the  black  hill  I  was  able  to 
gain  a  view  of  the  Caspian  Sea.  It  is  not  the  mahi 
sea  which  is  here  visible,  but  rather  that  portion  of 


54  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  IV. 

it  shut  in  by  the  tongue  of  land  which  ends  at  Ash- 
ourada:  it  is  termed  the  Dead  Sea.     This  tongue 

o 

of  land  looks  at  a  distance  like  a  thin  strip  on  the 
water,  whence  shoots  up  a  single  line  of  trees,  which 
the  eye  can  follow  a  long,  long  way.  The  sight  of 
this,  with  its  bleak,  solitary  beach,  was  any  thing  but 
inspiriting.  I  burnt  with  desire  to  behold  its  east- 
ern shore,  and  I  hurried  back  to  my  abode  to  ascer- 
tain how  far  our  preparations  were  in  a  forward 
state  for  any  embarkation  in  quest  of  the  Turkoman 
coast.  Nur-Ullah  had  taken  upon  himself  to  make 
all  necessary  preparations.  The  evening  before  we 
had  been  told  that  for  a  kran  (franc)  per  head  we 
might  be  taken  to  Ashourada  by  an  Afghan  vessel 
employed  in  supplying  the  Russians  with  provis- 
ions, and  that  thence  we  might,  with  the  aid  of  Tur- 
komans, reach  Gomiishtepe  in  a  few  hours.  "In 
Ashourada  itself,''  they  said,  "there  is  Khidr  Khan, 
a  Turkt>man  chieftain  in  the  service  of  Russia,  who 
gives  assistance  to  poor  hadjis,  and  whom  we  may 
also  visit. "  We  were  all  delighted  to  learn  this,  and 
greeted  the  intelligence  with  acclamation.  How 
great,  then,  was  my  astonishment  when  I  learned 
that  this  Afghan  was  ready  for  the  voyage ;  that  he 
would  allow  the  hadjis  to  accompany  him,  but  that 
he  objected  to  my  highness,  whom  he  regarded  as  a 
secret  emissary  of  the  sultan,  fearing  lest  he  might 
lose  his  means  of  subsistence  from  the  Russians 
should  he  venture  to  take  such  an  individual  on" 
board  his  vessel.  His  resolution  surprised  me  not 
a  little.  I  was  glad  to  hear  my  companions  declare 
that  if  he  did  not  take  me  they  would  not  go,  but 


Chap.  IV.  ANAKHAN.— YAKOUB.  55 

would  prefer  to  wait  another  occasion.  So  I  heard, 
in  an  accent  of  peculiar  emphasis,  from  the  opium- 
smoker.  Emir  Mehemmed.  Later,  however,  came  the 
Afghan  himself  (his  name  was  Anakhan),  expressing 
his  regret,  promising  secrecy,  and  begging  me  to  give 
him  a  letter  of  recommendation  to  Haydar  Effendi. 
I  considered  it  good  policy  not  to  say  a  syllable  al- 
culated  to  quiet  his  apprehensions,  laughed  heartily 
at  his  ideas,  and  j^romised  to  leave  for  him  with  Nur- 
Ullah  some  lines  for  Teheran,  a  promise  which  I  did 
not  forget.  I  felt  it  quite  necessary  to  leave  my  real 
character  enveloped  in  a  veil  of  doubt  or  mystery. 
The  Oriental,  and  particularly  the  Islamite,  bred  up 
in  lies  and  treachery,  always  believes  the  very  con- 
trary of  what  a  man  shows  particular  earnestness  in 
convincing  him  of,  and  the  slightest  protestation  on 
my  part  would  have  served  to  confirm  their  suspi- 
cion. No  farther  allusion  was  made  to  the  subject, 
and  that  very  evening  we  heard  that  a  Turkoman 
who  plies  to  Gomiishtepe  was  prepared,  from  feelings 
of  mere  piety,  without  remuneration,  to  take  all  the 
hadjis  with  him ;  that  we  had  but  to  station  our- 
selves early  in  the  morning  on  the  sea-shore,  to  profit 
by  a  tolerably  favorable  wind.  Hadji  Bilal,  Hadji 
Salih,  and  myself,  the  recognized  triumvirate  of  the 
mendicant  caravan,  immediately  paid  a  visit  to  the 
Turkoman,  whose  name  was  Yakoub ;  he  was  a 
young  man,  with  an  uncommonly  bold  look.  He 
embraced  each  of  us,  and  did  not  object  to  wait  a 
day  that  we  might  complete  our  provisioning.  He 
received  beforehand  his  benediction  from  Hadji  Bilal 
and  Hadji  Salih.     We  had  already  risen  to  go,  when 


56  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  IV. 

he  called  me  aside,  and  tried  to  get  me  to  tarry  a  few 
moments  with  him.  I  remained  behind.  He  then, 
with  a  certain  timidity,  told  me  that  he  had  long  en- 
tertained an  unhappy  unreturned  affection  for  a  girl 
of  his  own  race,  and  that  a  Jew,  an  accomplished  ma- 
gician, who  for  the  moment  was  staying  in  Karatepe, 
had  promised  to  prepare  an  efficacious  nuskha  (talis- 
man) if  he  would  but  procure  thirty  drops  of  attar 
of  roses  fresh  from  Mecca,  as  this  could  not  be  dis- 
pensed with  in  the  formula. 

"  We  know,"  said  Yakoub,  "that  the  hadjis  bring 
back  with  them  out  of  the  holy  city  essences  of  roses 
and  other  sweet  perfumes  ;  and  as  you  are  the  young- 
est of  their  chiefs,  I  apply  to  you,  and  hope  you  will 
listen  to  my  entreaty." 

The  superstition  of  this  son  of  the  desert  did  not 
so  much  astonish  me  as  the  trust  he  had  reposed  in 
the  words  of  the  cunning  Israelite ;  and  as  my  trav- 
eling friends  had  really  brought  with  them  such  at- 
tar of  roses,  his  wish  was  soon  gratified.  The  joy 
that  he  displayed  was  almost  childish. 

The  second  day  afterward,  early  in  the  morning, 
we  all  assembled  on  the  sea-shore,  each  furnished,  be- 
sides his  mendicant  equipment,  with  a  sack  of  flour. 
We  lost  considerable  time  before  the  boat  (called 
teimil),  which  was  formed  out  of  a  hollow  tree,  set 
us  alongside  the  little  vessel,  or  skiff,  called  by  Turks 
"mauna."  This,  on  account  of  the  shallowness  of 
the  water  near  the  shore,  was  lying  out  at  sea  at  a 
distance  of  about  an  English  mile.  Never  shall  I 
forget  the  mode  in  which  we  embarked.  The  small 
tree,  in  the  hollow  of  which  passengers  were  stowed 


Chap.  IV.  TURKOMAN  VESSELS.  57 

away,  together  with  flour  and  other  effects,  in  the 
most  diversified  confusion,  threatened  every  instant  to 
go  to  the  bottom.  We  had  to  bless  our  good  fortune 
that  we  arrived  on  board  all  dry.  The  Turkomans 
have  three  kinds  of  vessels : 

(1.)  Keseboy,  furnished  with  a  mast  and  two  sails, 
one  large  and  one  small,  principally  for  carrving  car- 
goes; 

(2.)  Kay uk,  with  a  simple  sail,  generally  used  on 
their  predatory  expeditions  ;  and, 

(3.)  The  teimil,  or  skiff,  already  mentioned. 

The  vessel  provided  for  our  use  by  Yakoub  was  a 
keseboy,  that  had  conveyed  a  cargo  of  naphtha,  pitch, 
and  salt  to  the  Persian  coast  from  the  island  Tche- 
reken,  and  was  now  homeward-bound  with  corn  on 
board. 

As  the  vessel  had  no  deck,  and  consequently  had 
no  distinction  of  place,  every  one  suited  himself,  and 
sat  down  where  he  wished  as  he  entered.  Yakoub, 
however,  observing  that  this  would  disturb  the  trim 
and  management  of  the  vessel,  we  each  seized  our 
bundle  and  our  provisions,  and  were  closely  packed 
in  two  rows  near  each  other  like  salted  herrino;s,  so 
that  the  centre  of  the  boat  remained  free  for  the  crew 
to  pass  backward  and  forward.  Our  position,  then, 
was  none  of  the  most  agreeable.  During  the  day- 
time it  was  insupportable,  but  at  night  it  was  awful, 
when  sleep  threw  the  sitters  from  their  perpendicu- 
lar position  to  the  right  and  left,  and  I  was  forced 
to  submit  for  hours  to  the  sweet  burden  of  a  snoring 
h>adji.  Frequently  a  sleeper  on  my  right  and  anoth- 
er on  my  left  fell  one  over  the  other  upon  me :  I 


58  TEAVELS  IN  CENTKAL  ASIA.  Cuap.  IV. 

dared  not  wake  them,  for  that  would  have  been  a 
heinous  sin,  to  be  atoned  by  never-ending  suffering. 

It  was  midday  on  the  10th  of  April,  1863,  when  a 
favorable  wind  distended  our  sails,  driving  the  little 
vessel  before  it  like  an  arrow.  On  the  left  side  we 
had  the  small  tongue  of  land ;  on  the  right,  thickly 
covered  with  wood,  extending  down  to  the  very  sea, 
stood  the  mountain  upon  which  rose  the  Palace  Esh- 
ref,  built  by  Shah  Abbas,  the  greatest  of  the  Persian 
kings.  The  charm  of  our  Argonautic  expedition 
was  augmented  by  the  beautiful  spring  weather ;  and 
in  spite  of  the  small  space  within  which  I  was  pent 
up,  I  was  in  very  good  spirits.  The  thought  might 
have  suggested  itself  to  me  that  I  had  to-day  left  the 
Persian  coast ;  that  at  last  I  had  reached  a  point 
from  which  there  was  no  drawing  back,  and  where 
regrets  were  useless.  But  no !  at  that  moment  no 
such  idea  occurred  to  me.  I  was  firmly  convinced 
that  my  traveling  friends,  whose  wild  appearance  had 
at  first  rendered  them  objects  of  alarm,  were  really 
faithful  to  me,  and  that  under  their  guidance  I  might 
face  the  greatest  dangers. 

Toward  evening  there  was  a  calm  ;  we  cast  anchor 
near  the  shore,  and  were  allowed  in  turn  to  make  our 
tea  on  the  little  hearth  of  the  vessel.  Having  stored 
away  some  pieces  of  sugar  in  my  girdle,  I  invited 
Yacoub,  and  honored  him  with  a  bowl  of  tea.  Hadji 
Salih  and  Sultan  Mahmoud  were  of  the  party ;  the 
young  Turkoman  was  the  great  talker,  and  began  to 
recount  stories  of  the  alaman  (as  the  Turkomans 
name  their  marauding  expeditions),  a  favorite  topic 
with  this  people.     His  eye,  always  fiery,  now  vied 


Chap.  IV.  KHANDJAN.— ASHOURADA.  59 

with  the  stars  of  his  own  heaven,  for  his  vein  was 
stimulated  by  the  desire  to  win  golden  opinions  from 
the  Sunnite  mollahs  (we  passed  for  such)  by  details 
of  the  conflicts  in  which  he  had  engaged  with  the 
Shiite  heretics,  and  of  the  numbers  of  the  heretics 
that  he  had  made  prisoners.  My  friends  soon  began 
to  slumber  around  me ;  still  I  did  not  tire  of  listen- 
ing to  him,  and  it  was  not  until  midnight  that  he 
thought  of  retiring.  Before  he  withdrew  he  told 
me  that  Nur-Ullah  had  directed  him  to  take  me  as  a 
guest  to  the  tent  of  Khandjan,  a  Turkoman  chieftain ; 
and  he  added  that  Nur-Ullah  was  right,  for  I  was 
not  like  the  rest  of  the  hadjis,  and  deserved  better 
treatment.  " Khandjan,"  said  Yakoub,  "is  the  aksa- 
kal  (chief)  of  a  mighty  race,  and  even  in  the  time  of 
his  father,  no  dervish,  hadji,  or  other  stranger  ever 
dared  to  pass  through  Gomiishtepe  without  having 
tasted  his  bread  and  drunk  his  water.  He  will,  as 
you  come  out  of  foreign  Roum  (Turkey),  certainly 
give  you  a  good  reception,  and  you  will  be  grateful 
to  me." 

The  following  morning,  the  weather  being  unfavor- 
able, we  could  only  move  slowly ;  it  was  already 
evening  when  we  reached  Ashourada,  the  most  south- 
erly point  of  the  Russian  possessions  in  Asia.  It 
fell  definitively  into  the  hands  of  the  Czar  twenty- 
five  years  ago  :  perhaps  it  would  be  better  to  express 
ourselves  thus,  that  it  became  subject  to  Russia  from 
the  time  when,  with  their  steamers,  they  began  to 
strike  the  necessary  degree  of  terror  into  the  daring 
alaman  cruisers  of  the  Turkoman  pirates.  The  name 
Ashourada  is  of  Turkoman  origin  ;  it  was  inhabited, 


60  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  IV. 

but  served  them  rather  as  a  station  for  their  then 
frequent  and  unchecked  piratical  expeditions.  The 
Ashourada  of  the  present  day  produces  upon  the 
traveler  arriving  from  Persia  an  agreeable  impres- 
sion. Small,  it  is  true,  is  the  number  of  houses  built 
at  the  east  end  of  the  tongue  of  land ;  but  the  Euro- 
pean fashion  of  the  buildings,  as  well  as  the  church 
that  the  eye  encounters,  were  not  indifferent  objects 
for  me.  The  war  steamers  more  particularly  remind- 
ed me  of  European  modes  of  existence ;  and  I  can 
not  say  how  inspiriting  it  was  to  see  toward  evening 
a  steamer  from  Gez  (a  place  that  serves  as  the  port 
for  Astrabad)  gliding  proudly  by.  The  Russians 
here  maintain  three  war  steamers  (two  large  and  one 
small),  without  the  protection  of  which  neither  the 
Russian  settlers  nor  the  sailing  vessels  proceeding 
from  Astrakhan  would  be  safe  from  the  attacks  of 
the  Turkomans.  So  long,  indeed,  as  the  merchant- 
man remains  out  at  sea,  it  has  no  cause  for  alarm ; 
and  it  rarely  ventures  to  approach  the  .coast  without 
being  in  the  escort  of  a  steamer,  whose  protection  is 
also  necessary  for  the  voyage  back.  The  Russian 
government  makes,  naturally,  the  greatest  exertions, 
and  at  the  greatest  cost,  to  paralyze  the  predatory 
habits  of  the  Turkomans.  This  plague  has,  in  effect, 
somewhat  diminished ;  still,  to  establish  security  is 
an  impossibility,  and  many  unhappy  Persian,  and 
even  occasionally  Russian,  sailors  are  hurried  away 
in  chains  to  Gomiishtepe.  The  Russian  ships  cruise 
incessantly  day  and  night  in  the  Turkoman  waters ; 
and  every  Turkoman  vessel  that  is  about  to  proceed 
from  the  east  coast  to  the  Persian  shore  on  the  south. 


CuAP.  IV.  KHIDR  KUAN  A  RUSSIAN  AGENT.  Ql 

must  be  provided  with  a  pass,  for  which  the  owner 
has  to  pay  yearly  8, 10,  or  15  ducats.  This  pass  is 
renewable  at  the  end  of  each  year,  and  must  be  ex- 
hibited every  time  the  vessel  passes  Ashourada,  when 
it  is  visited  by  the  Russian  functionaries  to  ascertain 
if  it  has  on  board  prisoners,  arms,  or  other  contra- 
band merchandise.  The  consequence  of  this  salu- 
tary regulation  is  that  a  great  part  of  the  Turkoman 
merchant  shipping  has  been  overhauled  and  regis- 
tered, and  the  rest  mostly  navigate  in  indirect  courses, 
and  if  encountered  by  the  Russian  cruisers  are  taken, 
or,  in  case  of  resistance,  sunk.  While  thus,  on  the 
one  side,  steps  of  necessary  vigor  have  been  taken,  on 
the  other  a  policy  has  been  adopted  of  establishing 
friendly  relations  with  one  tribe  so  as  to  make  use 
of  it  against  another. 

At  the  time  when  I  passed  by  Ashourada,  Khidr 
Khan,  sprung  from  the  race  of  the  Gazili  Kor,  had 
already  borne  the  title  of  derya  beghi  (admiral)  thir- 
ty years  in  the  Russian  service,  and  had  a  salary  of 
about  forty  ducats  per  month,  out  of  which  he  gave 
ten  to  his  mirza  or  writer.  Khidr  Khan  still  con- 
tinued to  live  in  a  tent  in  the  middle  of  the  semi- 
European  colony ;  his  functions  consisted  in  using 
liis  influence  with  the  Turkomans  generally  to  pre- 
vent their  piracies,  or  at  least  in  conveying  to  the 
Russians  intelligence  of  any  intended  expedition,  for 
his  clansmen,  as  eye-witnesses,  were  well  able  to  per- 
form the  duty  of  spies.  But  this  he  could  not  effect. 
This  Khidr  Khan,  though  once  so  good  a  Mussul- 
man, had  formed  at  an  early  date  acquaintance  with 
the  generous  vodki  (Russian  brandy) :    the    conse- 


g2  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  IV. 

quence  was  that,  day  and  night,  he  was  intoxicated ; 
and  his  sons,  who  were  to  be  his  successors,  had  come 
to  an  understanding  with  the  karaktchi  (robbers), 
and  were  very  careful  not  to  give  intelligence  to 
the  Russians  of  any  projected  marauding  expedi- 
tion. 

Our  friend  Yakoub  was  bound  to  produce  his  pass, 
.and  our  little  vessel  could  not  proceed  without  bav- 
in o-  been  first  searched.  As  niojht  had  commenced 
when  we  neared  Ashourada,  we  found  that  the  visit 
of  the  authorities  was  postponed  till  an  early  hour  in 
the  morning.  We  cast  anchor  a  short  distance  from 
land.  My  friends  seemed  greatly  to  regret  their  be- 
ing prevented  from  waiting  upon  Khidr  Khan,  the 
ill-famed  Maecenas  of  dervishes  and  hadjis.  The  cir- 
cumstance was,  however,  to  me  a  cause  of  unmingled 
satisfaction ;  for  I  could  not  have  remained  behind, 
and  Khidr's  experience  in  European  countenances 
would  have  easily  detected  me,  or,  at  all  events,  would 
have  left  me  ill  at  ease.  I  was,  however,  somewhat 
disturbed  by  the  reflection  that,  as  an  examination 
of  the  vessel  must  ensue  in  the  morning,  my  Euro- 
pean features,  in  strange  contrast  with  those  of  my 
companions,  and  my  complexion  not  yet  brought  to 
an  Asiatic  hue,  might  still  play  me  false,  and  make 
the  Russians  alive  to  the  real  facts  of  the  case.  Far 
from  apprehending  any  inhumane  treatment  at  their 
hands,  my  principal  dread  was  their  discovering  me, 
and  endeavoring  to  dissuade  me  from  persisting  in 
my  adventure  ;  and,  besides,  I  feared  still  more  that 
the  affair  might  be  noised  abroad,  and  that  the  Turk- 
omans might  get  wind  of  my  incognito.     I  thought 


Chap.  IV.  THE  AUTHOR  IN  DREAD.  gg 

of  how  much  more  ransom  I  should  have  to  pay 
than  Blocqueville,  to  rescue  me  from  such  cruel  slav- 
ery! These  ideas  occasioned  me  the  deepest  anxie- 
ty, and  I  felt  so  troubled  that  I  could  not  gaze  with 
pleasure  upon  this  last  picture  reflected  from  West- 
ern life. 

Next  morning  I  awoke  in  the  greatest  agitation ; 
the  sound  of  a  bell  was  heard  from  Ashourada ;  my 
fellow-travelers  said  that  this  was  Sunday,  the  holi- 
day of  the  unbelievers.  I  knew  not  which  Sunday'-' 
it  was.  We  were  close  to  a  ship  of  war  that  had  all 
its  colors  flying ;  suddenly  we  saw  sailors  in  full  uni- 
form in  a  boat  approach  the  shore  with  regular  meas- 
ured strokes  of  their  oars ;  an  oflicer  in  full  dress 
then  stepped  in,  and  was  soon  taken  on  board  the 
ship  of  war.  Ten  minutes  had  hardly  elapsed  when 
they  called  to  us  to  approach,  and  I  then  saw  on 
their  deck  near  the  gangway  several  fair-haired  offi- 
cers standing  together.  My  heart  began  to  beat  vio- 
lently; we  approached  nearer  and  nearer;  all  my 
effort  now  was  to  maintain  such  an  attitude  as  might 
least  attract  attention,  and  avoid  as  far  as  possible 
the  dreaded  tete-d-tete.  As  fortune  Avilled,  our  ves- 
sel, on  approaching  the  Russians,  presented  to  it  first 
that  side  upon  which  I  was  seated,  so  that  the  assem- 
bled officers  were  only  able  to  see  my  neck. 

On  account  of  the  day,  the  examination  was  but 
slight  and  formal.  The  dollmetsh  exchanged  a  few 
words  with  Yakoub ;   our  mendicant  company  fixed 

*  During  my  journey  I  often  lost  sight  of  dates,  and  it  was 
only  later  that  I  learned  that  this  was  Easter  Sunday  (Russian 
style). 


04  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  IV. 

the  attention  of  the  officers.     Amona;  other  thino-s  I 
heard  one  say,  "See  how  white  this  haclji  is.""* 

This  allusion  was  probably  made  to  me,  whose 
complexion  had  not  yet  assumed  the  hue  of  uncivil- 
ized life.  If  so,  it  was  the  only  observation  they 
made  upon  me ;  for  they  had  soon  done  with  Ya- 
koub,  and  in  a  moment  we  were  far  away  from  the 
side  of  the  Russian  vessel. 

I  now  raised  myself  from  my  stooping  and  half- 
sleeping  position,  and  took  a  long  breath,  for  my 
anxiety  was  at  an  end.  Soon  afterward  the  wind 
began  to  blow  strongly  from  the  west.  Now  was 
the  time  to  get  up  our  sails  and  make  all  haste  for 
Gomiishtepe,  which  was  but  three  leagues  off;  but 
Yakoub  kept  his  eye  fixed  on  a  white  point  in  the 
distance,  and  held  a  council  with  his  crew ;  nor  was 
it  until  this  dreaded  object  had  entirely  vanished 
that  our  large  sail  was  unfurled,  and  we  darted  with 
the  swiftness  of  an  arrow  toward  the  east. 

At  about  half  a  league  distance  from  Ashourada 
we  passed  several  sea-marks,  consisting  of  long  paint- 
ed poles.  I  was  told  by  Yakoub  that  they  had  been 
placed  there  by  the  "Inghiliz'"  to  mark  the  limits  of 
the  Russian  waters,  the  other  side  belonging  to  the 
Turkomans,  whom  the  "Inghiliz"  would  always  pro- 
tect against  the  attack  of  the  Russians.  It  was  al- 
ways a  riddle  to  me  to  discover  who  had  instilled 
into  these  wild  sons  of  the  desert  such  far-reaching 
ideas  of  policy.  It  is  not  for  me  to  discriminate 
these  sea-marks,  still  less  to  weigh  the  amount  of 
sympathy  felt  by  England  for  the  Turkomans. 
*  "  Sraotrite  kakoi  bieloi  etot  hadji." 


Chap.  IV.    ARRIVAL  AT  THE  MOUTH  OF  THE  GORGHEN.         65 

In  less  than  an  hour  the  Turkoman  coast  lay  well 
defined  before  us,  appearing  as  a  long  tract  of  land 
with  elevated  ground  here  and  there.  We  followed 
the  direction  indicated  by  other  craft  which  were 
running  in  before  us :  the  sails  were  soon  lowered, 
for  we  had  reached  the  end  of  the  navigable  waters, 
and  lay  off  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Goro-hen.  On  both  of  its  banks  we  saw  the 
encampment  of  Gomiishtepe,  in  form  lil^e  a  hundred 
beehives  lying  close  together. 

As  it  had  been  at  Karatepe,  so  was  it  also  here  on 
account  of  the  shallowness :  ev«n  boats  that  draw 
little  water  can  not  approach  the  shore,  or  run  into 
the  River  Gorghen,  which  is  itself  tolerably  deep,  and 
never  wants  Abater.  We  were  therefore  obliged  to 
wait  at  a  considerable  distance  off  shore  until  Ya- 
koub  should  have  disembarked,  reported  his  arrival, 
and  sent  back  to  us  several  teimils  to  aid  us  in  our 
disembarkation.  After  some  delay,  three  of  these 
very  original  transports  came  ;  they  were  to  perform 
their  little  voyages  as  often  as  our  numbers  rendered 
it  necessary,  until  all  should  be  landed. 

Hadji  Bilal  and  I  were  the  last  to  land,  and  I 
was  really  delighted  when,  on  touching  shore,  I  heard 
that  Khandjan,  informed  of  my  arrival  by  my  honest 
friend  Yakoub,  had  hastened  down  to  receive  me. 
There  I  found  him  on  landing,  a  few  paces  behind, 
in  the  attitude  necessitated  by  the  repetition  of  the 
afternoon  prayer  (Aszr-Namazi). 

E 


Chap.v.  akrival  at  GOMUSHTEPE.  g7 


CHAPTER  V. 


AKEIVAL  AT  GOMuSHTEPE  ;    HOSPITABLE   RECEPTION  OF  THE   HADJIS. — KHAND- 

JAN. ANCIENT   GREEK    WALL. INFLUENCE   OF    THE    CLESfAS. FIRST    BRICK 

MOSQUE    OF    THE    NOMADS. — TARTAR    RAIDS. PERSIAN    SLAVES. EXCURSION 

TO  THE  NORTHEAST  OF  GoMUSHTEPE. TARTAR    FIANCEE  AND  BANQUET,  ETC. 

— PREPARATION   OF    THE    KHAN   OF   KHIVA'S    KERVANBASHI   FOR   THE   JOUR- 
NEY THROUGH    THE    DESERT. LINE    OP  CAMELS. ILIAS  BEG,  THE    HIRER    OF 

CAMELS.  —  ARRANGEMENTS    WITH    KHULKHAN.  —  TURK03IAN    EXPEDITION   TO 
STEAL   HORSES   IN  PERSIA. — ITS   RETURN. 


"j4(i  introeuntium  dextram  Sq/tkce  nomades,  freti  litoribus,  insident." — Pom- 
pon. Mela,  De  Situ  Orbis,  1.  iii.,  c.  v. 


After  his  prayer  was  ended,  Khandjan  arose,  and 
as  I  perceived  him  standing  before  me,  he  was  a 
handsome,  tall,  and  slender  man,  about  forty  years 
of  age,  dressed  in  extremely  modest  attire,  with  a 
long  beard  descending  to  his  breast.  He  at  once 
approached  me,  hastily  embraced,  and  gave  me  a 
hearty  welcome ;  in  doing  so  he  greeted  me  by  my 
name.  He  received  the  Hadjis  Bilal  and  Salih  in  a 
similar  manner ;  and  after  the  caravan  had  stowed 
away  their  sacks,  and  was  once  more  afoot,  we  closed 
the  procession,  all  taking  the  road  toward  the  tents. 
The  report  of  our  arrival  had  spread  every  where ; 
our  numbers  were  exaggerated ;  women,  children, 
and  dogs  all  hastened  in  strange  confusion  out  of, 
the  tents  to  gaze  upon  the  approaching  pilgri:&s, 
and  by  an  embrace  (as  the  mollahs  pretend)  to  ac- 


68  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  V. 

quire,  in  obedience  to  the  divine  command  respect- 
ing pilgrimage,  a  participation  in  the  merit  and  re- 
wards of  pilgrims.  This  first  picture  of  Central  Asi- 
atic life  had  so  taken  me  by  surprise  that  I  was 
puzzled  whether  I  should  pause  first  to  admire  the 
singular  construction  of  the  tents,  formed  of  felt, 
and  the  women  with  their  silk  shifts  extending  to 
the  ankles,  or  at  once  gratify  the  wish  implied  by 
their  outstretched  hands  and  arms.  Strange !  young 
and  old,  without  distinction  of  sex  or  family,  all 
wished  to  touch  the  hadjis  on  whom  the  holy  dust 
of  Mecca  and  Medina  still  rested.  Judge,  too,  of 
my  amazement  when  women  of  the  greatest  beauty, 
some  girls  even,  hurried  up  to  embrace  me.  We 
were  tired,  worn  out  by  these  demonstrations  of  re- 
spect arising  from  blended  feelings  of  religion  and 
hospitality,  when  we  arrived  before  the  tent  of  the 
chief  ishan  (priest),  where  our  little  caravan  was  con- 
centrated :  then  began  one  of  the  most  interesting 
s]3ectacles  that  my  eyes  have  ever  witnessed.  Here 
were  to  begin  the  arrangements  for  quartering  the 
guests  that  had  just  arrived.  The  passion  and 
warmth  with  which  all  disputed  the  honor  and  right 
of  harboring  one  or  more  of  these  poor  strangers  as- 
tounded me.  I  had  heard,  it  is  true,  the  hospitality 
of  these  nomads  spoken  of,  but  never  dreamed  that 
it  could  have  risen  to  such  a  point. 

Khandjan  quieted  the  quarrels  which  had  com- 
menced among  the  women ;  he  restored  order,  and 
assigned  the  dilFerent  guests  to  each,  retaining  as  his 
own  peculiar  guests  Hadji  Bilal  and  myself,  with  all 
that  belonsfed  to  us :   he  took  us  with  him  to  his  ova 


Chap.  V.  RECEPTION  BY  KHANDJAN.  69 

(tent).*  As  he  lived  quite  at  the  extremity  of  Go- 
miishtepe,  we  had  to  pass  through  the  whole  encamp- 
ment, which  extended  on  both  banks  of  the  Gor- 
ghen,f  and  consisted  of  tents  standing  close  together. 
It  was  near  sunset  when,  quite  worn  out,  we  reached 
his  dwelling,  in  the  fond  hope  of  being  able  at  last 
to  find  repose ;  but  a  sad  disappointment  awaited 
us.  Our  new  abode  consisted,  it  is  true,  of  a  sepa- 
rate tent,  pitched  two  paces  from  the  river ;  but  we 
had  hardly  taken  possession  of  it,  with  the  custom- 
ary ceremonials  (twice  performing  its  circuit  and 
peeping  in  the  four  corners),  when  it  was  filled  with 
visitors,  who  lingered  till  a  late  hour  at  night,  and 
so  wearied  us  by  their  thousands  of  questions,  that 
even  Hadji  Bilal,  the  Oriental  par  excellence,  began 
gradually  to  lose  patience.  In  the  evening  supper 
was  served  by  Baba  Djan,J  the  son  of  Khandjan,  a 
lad  twelve  years  old.      It  consisted  of  boiled  fish  and 

*  Ova,  properly  translated  tent,  is  used  here  by  the  TurkomanB 
to  indicate  a  house  and  court. 

f  This  river,  whose  remotest  springs  rise  in  the  mountains  of 
Khurdistan,  traverses  the  greater  part  of  the  district  peopled  by 
the  Yoniuts,  in  an  extent  of  nearly  thirty  German  geographical 
miles  (120  miles).  A  man  on  horseback  can  ford  it  to  a  point 
far  below  Pisarak ;  and  even  below  the  Atabegs  its  depth  is  not 
considerable  until  it  comes  within  eight  geographical  miles  of 
Gomiishtepe,  where  its  two  banks  are  mere  morasses.  It  is  ev- 
ery where  narrow.  It  is  fabulously  rich  in  fish  at  about  four  or 
five  geographical  miles  from  its  mouth,  so  that  its  Avaters  ap- 
peared almost  colored  by  them,  and  are  in  summer  hardly  drink- 
able. After  I  had  only  twice  used  it  for  washing,  my  hands  and 
face  acquired  a  strong  fishy  smell. 

X  Baba  Djan,  father's  soul,  is  merely  a  term  of  endearment 
given  by  the  Turkomans  to  their  eldest  sons. 


70  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  V. 

sour  milk,  and  was  served  up  in  a  large  wooden  dish. 
This,  a  Persian  slave,  heavily  laden  with  chains,  in 
the  first  instance  brought  near  to  us,  Avhen  it  was  re- 
ceived by  Baba  Djan,  who,  after  having  set  it  before 
us,  went  and  took  his  seat  close  to  his  father,  at  a 
little  distance  fron:i  us,  and  then  both  looked  on  with 
visible  pleasure  as  they  saw  us  attacking  the  provis- 
ions with  the  appetites  of  giants.  Supper  at  an  end, 
the  prayer  was  said,  Hadji  Bilal  raising  his  hands, 
in  which  gesture  he  was  imitated  by  all  present,  as 
he  was  again  when,  in  conclusion,  after  saying  "Bis- 
millah,  Allah  Ekber,"  every  one  stroked  his  beard, 
and  offered  their  felicitations  to  Khandjan  upon  his 
guests. 

l^th  April.  I  awoke  for  the  first  time  in  a  Turko- 
man tent,  which  among  the  Yomuts  receives  the  ap- 
pellation of  tchatma,  but  among  other  tribes  is  called 
aladja.  The  sweet  sleep  that  I  had  enjoyed,  and  the 
light  construction  in  which  I  found  myself,  had  made 
me  feel  fresh  and  light  of  heart :  the  charm  of  nov- 
elty transported  me,  and  my  delight  was  without 
bounds.  This  did  not  escape  the  notice  of  Hadji 
Bilal,  who  invited  me  to  take  a  short  walk  with  him, 
and  when  we  had  got  to  a  short  distance  from  the 
tchatma,  he  observed  to  me  that  it  was  now  high 
time  to  lay  aside  entirely  my  effendi  character,  and 
become  body  and  soul  a  dervish.  "You  must  have 
already  remarked,"  said  my  good  friend,  "that  both 
I  and  my  associates  bestow  upon  the  public  fatiha 
(blessings) :  this  you  must  do  also.  I  know  that 
this  is  not  the  custom  in  Bourn,  but  people  here  will 
expect  and  demand  it.     It  will  occasion  great  sur- 


Chap.  V.  TURKOMANS  SUSPECT  THE  AUTHOR.  71 

prise  if,  representing  yourself  to  be  a  dervish,  you  do 
not  carry  out  the  character  to  its  full  extent.  You 
know  the  form  of  benediction ;  assume,  therefore,  a 
serious  face,  and  distribute  your  fatiha  (blessings) ; 
you  can  also  give  the  nefes  (holy  breath)  when  you 
are  summoned  to  the  sick,  only  never  forget  to  ex- 
tend your  hand  at  the  same  time,  for  it  is  a  matter 
of  notoriety  that  we  dervishes  subsist  by  such  acts 
of  piety,  and  they  are  always  ready  with  some  little 
present  or  other.''  Hadji  Bilal  apologized  for  pre- 
suming to  school  me ;  still,  he  said  that  it  was  for 
my  benefit,  and  that  I  must  have  heard  the  story  of 
the  traveler  who,  when  he  reached  the  land  of  the 
one-eyed  nation,  to  put  himself  upon  an  equality  with 
them,  kept  one  of  his  eyes  closed.  After  I  had  warm- 
ly thanked  him  for  his  counsel,  he  told  me  also  that 
Khandjan,  and  many  other  Turkomans,  had  made 
particular  inquiries  respecting  me,  and  that  it  had 
cost  him  much  trouble  and  strong  protestations  to 
convince  them  that  my  journey  had  not  in  the  slight- 
est degree  an  ofiicial  character.  The  Turkomans 
naturally  inclined  to  the  idea  that  I  had  been  sent 
by  the  sultan  to  Khiva  and  Bokhara  on  some  anti- 
Kussian  mission  ;  that  he  was  not  disposed  to  dis- 
turb their  belief,  as  they  had  the  greatest  respect  for 
the  sultan.  The  result  of  all  was  that  I  should  nev- 
er for  a  moment  throw  aside  my  dervish  character, 
for  that  enigmas  and  ambiguities  were  what  best  suit- 
ed this  people.  Having  said  this,  we  returned  to 
our  quarters,  where  our  host  was  waiting  for  us,  with 
many  of  his  friends  and  relatives.  First  he  present- 
ed his  wife  and  aged  mother,  whom  he  commended 


72  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  V. 

to  our  powerful  intercession  and  blessings ;  then  we 
were  made  acquainted  with  other  near  members  of 
his  family.  After  we  had  rendered  to  all  the  expect- 
ed services,  Khan dj an  remarked  that  it  was  the  cus- 
tom of  the  Turkomans  to  regard  a  guest  as  the  dear- 
est member  of  the  family ;  that  we  might  without 
obstacle  move  about,  not  only  among  his  own  clan, 
but  among  the  whole  tribe  of  the  Yomuts  ;  and, 
should  any  one  dare  to  touch  a  hair  of  his  guest's 
head,  the  Kelte  (that  was  the  name  of  his  clan)  would 
exact  satisfaction.  "You  will  have  to  remain  here, 
and  wait  at  least  two  weeks  till  a  caravan  is  ready  to 
start  for  Khiva ;  repose  a  little,  and  then  pay  a  visit 
to  the  more  distant  ovas.  The  Turkoman  never  per- 
mits the  dervish  to  proceed  empty-handed  from  his 
tent.  It  will  do  you  no  harm  to  fill  your  bread-sack 
— you  have  a  long  way  before  you  ere  you  can  get 
any  supply — since  it  is  your  purpose  to  go  as  far  as 
Khiva  and  Bokhara." 

As  I  wished  so  much  to  move  about  at  my  ease, 
the  reader  may  judge  how  these  words  delighted  me. 
It  was  -my  desire  to  remain  in  Gomiishtepe  only  so 
long  as  was  necessary  to  extend  my  acquaintance  a 
little  with  the  people,  and  to  acquire  greater  fluency 
in  their  dialect.  During  the  first  few  days  I  accom- 
panied Khandjan,  his  brother,  or  other  intimate  friend 
of  his  family,  in  their  round  of  visits.  A  little  later 
I  attended  the  Hadji  Bilal  in  his  tour  of  religious 
benedictions,  or  went  with  Hadji  Salih,  who  was  ac- 
tively engaged  in  his  medical  capacity.  Upon  the 
latter  occasions,  while  he  was  administering  the  med- 
icine, I  repeated  aloud  the  blessing ;  this  finished,  I 


Chap.  V.      THE  AUTHOR  A  DERVISH.— KIZIL  AKHOND.  73 

received  a  present  of  a  little  mat  of  felt,  or  a  dried 
fish,  or  some  other  trifle.  Whether  it  was  owing  to 
good  luck  attending  our  joint  treatment,  or  a  motive 
of  mere  curiosity  with  respect  to  the  Turkish  hadji 
(Hadji  Roumi) — that  was  my  title  among  them — I 
was  never  able  to  unriddle ;  but  my  friends  were 
much  amazed  that,  after  having  only  been  five  days 
in  Gomiishtepe,  I  had  a  numerous  levee  of  sick  per- 
sons, or  at  least  of  men  who  pretended  to  be  such,  to 
whom  I  administered  blessings  and  "breath,"  or  for 
whom  I  wrote  little  sentences  to  serve  as  talismans, 
but  never  did  this  take  place  without  my  receiving 
afterward  the  proper  "honorarium,""  Now  and  then 
I  fell  in  with  a  stiff-necked  j)olitician,  who,  regarding 
me  as  a  mere  political  emissary,  questioned  my  der- 
vish character.  This,  however,  troubled  me  but  lit- 
tle, for  at  least  the  original  mask  that  I  had  assumed 
remained  unsuspected :  no  one  thought  of  discover- 
ing me  to  be  a  European.  Judge,  then,  how  pleased 
I  was  to  think  that  I  could  now  iJndisturbedly  move 
about  on  a  soil  hitherto  so  little  known  to  Europeans. 
The  number  of  my  acquaintances  increased  rapid- 
ly. I  soon  counted  among  them  the  most  powerful 
and  influential,  I  found  particular  advantage  in  the 
friendship  of  Kizil  Akhond  (his  proper  name  was 
Mollah  Murad),  a  Turkoman  "savant"  of  high  dis- 
tinction, with  whom.  I  was  upon  the  best  footing,  and 
whose  recommendation  procured  access  for  me  every 
where.  Kizil  Akhond  had  in  his  time,  when  study- 
ing in  Bokhara,  fallen  upon  a  work  in  the  Osmanli 
Turkish  language,  a  sort  of  comment  or  explanation 
of  sentences  and  expressions  in  the  Koran.     This  he 


74  TKAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  V. 

did  not  exactly  understand.  I  possessed  the  neces- 
sary key.  My  co-operation  consecj^uently  gave  him 
the  greatest  delight:  he  spoke  every  where  in  the 
highest  terms  of  my  acquaintance  with  the  literature 
of  Islam.  I  entered  into  friendly  relations  with  Sat- 
lig  Akhond  also,  who  was  a  highly-esteemed  priest 
and  a  man  of  no  little  learning.  When  I  first  met 
him,  he  returned  formal  thanks  to  Providence  for  per- 
mitting him  to  behold,  face  to  face,  a  Mussulman 
from  Roum,  from  that  pure  source  of  faith;  and 
some  one  in  the  company  having  made  a  remark  re- 
specting my  white  complexion,  he  said  that  that  was 
the  true  light  of  Islam  (nur  til  Islam)  that  beamed 
from  my  countenance,  of  which  divine  blessing  only 
the  believers  of  the  West  could  boast.  I  was  also  in 
the  habit  of  sedulously  cultivating  the  acquaintance 
of  Mollah  Durdis,  who  was  invested  with  the  rank 
of  a  kazi  kelan  (superior  judge) ;  for  I  had  soon  ac- 
quired the  conviction  that  it  was  only  the  class  of 
the  ulemas  that  would  exercise  any  influence  upon 
these  wild  people,  and  that  the  ascendency  of  the 
(aksakal)  graybeards,  regaj:ded  in  Europe  as  predom- 
inant, was  really  of  very  little  moment. 

The  increasing  confidence  evinced  for  me  by  the 
Turkomans  showed  me  that  the  line  of  conduct  I  had 
adopted  was  a  prudent  one  ;  and  when  the  intention 
was  entertained  of  building  a  mosque  with  the  bricks 
from  the  old  Grecian  ruins  which  have  given  name  to 
Gomiishtepe,  it  was  I  who  was  requested  to  indicate 
the  mihrab  (altar),  as  Kizil  Akhond  had  j)ointed  me 
out  as  the  best  informed  and  most  experienced  der- 
vish for  the  purpose. 


Chap.v.        a  church  without  foundations.  75 

In  the  whole  district  of  Gomiishtepe  there  had 
never  been  till  now,  with  the  exception  of  the  con- 
struction in  its  vicinity  attributed  to  the  Greeks, 
which  was  now  in  ruins,  any  thing  in  the  shape  of  a 
wall ;  and  certainly  it  is  to  be  regarded  as  some  in- 
dication of  a  progress  in  civilization  that  the  idea  of 
erecting  an  edifice  for  divine  worship  in  this  spot, 
which  is  regarded  as  the  princij^al  seat  of  the  Yo- 
muts,  had  been  even  broached.  Each  pious  Turko- 
man had  imposed  it  upon  himself  as  a  duty  to  bring 
to  the  same  place  a  few  hundreds  of  the  beautiful 
square  bricks  from  the  fortified  works  built  by  Alex- 
ander ;  and  as  the  materials  were  now  regarded  as 
sufficient,  a  Turkoman  was  expressly  engaged  as  arch- 
itect. His  business  had  often  carried  him  to  Astra- 
khan, and  he  passed  for  a  man  of  experien(?e  in  such 
matters.  He  was  intrusted  with  the  execution  of 
the  entire  building.  After  I  had,  by  means  of  my 
compass,  indicated  to  them  the  direction  in  which. 
Mecca  lies,  they  began  to  build  the  walls  without  lay- 
ing any  foundations :  a  forgetfulness  affbrding  very 
little  guarantee  for  the  solidity  of  the  whole  construc- 
tion, and  yet  so  much  the  better  for  them,  perhaps ; 
for,  should  it  last  long  enough,  the  Russians  may, 
possibly,  some  day  or  other,  make  use  of  it  as  the 
advanced  works  of  a  fort,  and  the  vast  designs  of  the 
great  Macedonian  may  be  turned  to  account  by  the 
rival  ambition  of  a  Romanoff. 

I  had  hardly  spent  a  week  in  Gomiishtepe  when, 
through  the  protection  above  mentioned,  I  had  made 
acquaintances  every  where.  I  was  now  able  to  pen- 
etrate the  secrets  of  their  social  relations,  to  learn  the 


76  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA..  Chap.  V. 

numerous  ramifications  and  families  into  which  the 
tribe  is  divided,  and,  if  possible,  form  an  idea  concern- 
ing the  bond  that  holds  together  elements  apparent- 
ly so  discordant  and  confused.  The  task  was  some- 
what more  difficult  than  I  had  supj)osed.  I  had 
only  to  touch  upon  a  question  relating  to  ordinary 
life,  or  to  show  a  curiosity  for  some  matter  or  other, 
to  make  men  wonderingly  ask  what  a  dervish,  whose 
proper  business  was  only  God  and  religion,  had  to  do 
with  the  affairs  of  this  transitory  world.  My  inqui- 
ries, therefore,  on  these  heads  cost  me  great  trouble, 
for  direct  questions  I  never  dared  to  put.  Most  for- 
tunately, however,  the  Turkomans,  who  pass  all  their 
lives,  with  the  exception  of  that  part  devoted  to  ma- 
rauding expeditions,  in  the  greatest  indolence,  are 
prone  to  indulge  for  hours  and  hours  in  conversa- 
tions on  political  matters,  to  which  I  only  listened  in 
silence  ;  and  sitting  there  thus  dreamily,  with  my 
beads  in  my  hands,  it  has  been  permitted  to  me  to 
study  the  history  of  their  raids  (alaman),  of  their  re- 
lations with  Vilayet  (Persia),  with  the  Khan  of  Khi- 
va, and  other  nomad  nations. 

During  that  time  I  had  an  oj^portunity,  under  the 
conduct  of  Kizil  Akhond,  of  making  an  excursion  to 
the  Atabeg,  the  tribe  of  the  Yomuts  which  dwells 
farthest  to  the  east,  and  the  Goklen  Turkomans — an 
excursion  to  me  of  the  highest  interest,  as  it  gave  me 
an  opportunity  of  seeing  a  great  part  of  the  wall 
built  by  Alexander  to  serve  as  a  bulwark  against  the 
much-dreaded  tribe  that  peopled  the  wilderness. 

The  object  of  Kizil  Akhond's  journey  was  con- 
nected with  the  administration  of  justice:   he  had  to 


Chap.  V.  RUINS  ASCRIBED  TO  ALEXANDER.  77 

make  investigation  in  a  lawsuit.  We  consequently 
made  halts  in  several  places,  and  took  four  days  for 
a  tour  which  might  have  been  accomplished  in  two. 
The  direction  in  Avhich  we  journeyed  was  easterly ; 
but  we  were  frequently  obliged  to  take  circuitous 
ways  to  avoid  morasses  covered  with  reeds,  and  to 
keep  clear  of  the  hundreds  of  wild  boars  which  were 
roamino-  about. 

o 

The  morasses  are  caused  by  the  inundations  of  the 
Gorghen,  w^hich  swells  in  spring,  and  often  overflows 
its  banks  for  miles  and  miles.  This  must  also  have 
been  the  case  in  ancient  times,  for  it  was  considered 
advisable  to  build  the  great  wall  before  mentioned 
as  a  defense,  at  a  distance  of  from  four  to  six  English 
miles  from  the  north  bank  of  the  river ;  and  as  this 
was  always  on  one  of  the  highest  parts  which  could 
be  found  in  the  plain,  the  parts  adjoining  the  wall, 
now  in  ruins,  constitute  at  the  present  day  the  safest 
route  in  all  seasons  of  the  year.  And  for  a  like  rea- 
son we  find  in  the  same  vicinity  the  majority  of  the 
tents :  we  had  seldom  to  walk  an  hour  without  fall- 
ing in  with  these  in  either  greater  or  smaller  groups. 
I  did  not  see  the  west  end  of  this  ancient  construc- 
tion, and  am  not,  therefore,  inclined  to  accord  any 
credit  to  the  fabulous  accounts  with  which  I  was  fa- 
vored. On  the  east  end  I  think  I  really  discovered 
where  the  wall  began  in  two  points :  one  to  the 
northeast  of  Gomiishtepe,  where  larger  accumulations 
of  ruins,  close  upon  the  sea-shore,  mark  the  com- 
mencement, and  the  second  about  twenty  English 
miles  to  the  south  of  the  Biver  Etrek,  also  near  to 
the  sea,  which  two  lines  unite  a  little  higher  above 


78  TEAVELS  IN  CENTEAL  ASIA.  Chap.  V. 

the  Altin  Tokmak.  As  for  the  line  that  takes  its 
departure  from  Gomiishtepe,  I  was  able  to  follow  it 
up  during  two  days  to  a  distance  often  geographical 
miles  from  the  west  to  the  northeast.  It  is  easy  to 
distinguish  it  by  its  elevation  of  two  or  three  feet 
above  the  surface  of  the  surrounding  earth.  In  its 
entirety  the  work  presents  rather  the  appearance  of 
a  long  line  of  intrenchments,  from  the  midst  of  which, 
at  intervals  of  a  thousand  paces,  rise  the  ruins  of  an- 
cient towers :  the  dimensions  of  these  seem  to  have 
been  alike  throughout. 

In  the.  direction  of  these  walls  there  are  also  visi- 
ble other  great  mounds,  the  investigation  of  which  I 
would  rather  leave  to  others,  not  feeling  myself  com- 
petent to  give  any  satisfactory  explanation  or  even 
reasonable  surmise  about  them.  Some  of  the  small- 
er ones  have  been  opened  by  the  Turkomans,  and,  as 
I  was  told,  there  was  found  in  the  interior  of  a  four- 
sided  building  a  colossal  pot,  of  the  thinness  of  pa- 
per, containing  blue-colored  ashes,  a  few  gold  coins, 
and  other  precious  objects.  Hence  the  wall  is  styled, 
throughout  the  whole  country,  the  gold  receiver  (kizil 
alan).  The  mounds  of  which  I  here  speak  must, 
however,  be  distinguished  from  the  Yoska  elevations, 
raised  by  the  Turkomans  in  commemoration  of  great 
departed  ones  of  their  nation  whom  they  so  wish  to 
honor.  My  learned  guide,  Kizil  Akhond,  was  amazed 
at  my  showing  so  much  interest  in  the  wall  of  Alex- 
ander (Seddi  Iskender).* 

*  The  history  of  the  great  Macedonian  is  invested  by  the  Orien- 
tals with  all  the  characteristics  of  a  religious  myth  ;  and  although 
some  of  their  writers  are  anxious  to  distinguish  Iskender  Zul 


Chap.  V.  KIZIL  AKHOND.  79 

According  to  Kizil,  the  wall  had  been  erected  by 
the  genii  (djins),  at  the  command  of  the  mighty  sov- 
ereign Alexander.  " Alexander, "  he  said,  "was  a 
more  pious  Mussulman  than  we  are,  and  therefore- 
all  subterranean  spirits,  whether  they  would  or  no, 
owed  him  allegiance."  He  was  about  to  proceed 
with  the  well-known  fable  of  Alexander's  descent 
into  the  realms  of  darkness,  when  he  became  dumb 
on  seeing  that  I  was  absorbed  in  the  occupation  of 
forcibly  detaching  one  of  the  bricks ;  and,  really,  these 
bright  red  bricks  do  seem,  as  it  were,  fused  together 
into  one  material,  for  it  is  easier  to  break  them  into 
two  than  to  separate  them  from  the  entire  mass. 

The  whole  neighborhood  can  not  fail  to  be  of  the 
highest  interest  to  archaeologists,  as  there  are  to  be 
found  in  it  not  only  many  remains  of  the  Greek  dom- 
ination, but  also  hidden  monuments  of  ancient  Iran 
civilization  ;  for  the  Arabian  historians  relate  much 
to  us  concerning  the  importance  of  the  lower  Gor- 
ghen,  the  existing  ruins  of  Shehri  Djordjan.  Even  the 
kumbezi-Khaus  (the  dome  of  Khaus),  a  ruin  which 
I  only  heard  spoken  of  without  actually  seeing  it, 
would  also,  in  all  probability,  merit  more  attention 
than  rapidly -traveling  Englishmen  have  hitherto 
been  able  to  devote  to  it. 

I  was  very  much  surprised  to  see  that  Kizil  Ak- 
hond,  whom  I  had  regarded  merely  as  a  "savant," 
and  not  as  a  rich  man,  possessed  in  different  spots 
tents,  wives,  and   children,  the  different  component 

Karnein  (the  two-horned  Alexander),  the  hero  of  their  fable,  from 
Iskenderi  Roumi  (the  Greek  Alexander),  I  have  yet  every  where 
found  that  these  two  persons  were  regarded  as  one  and  the  same. 


80  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  V. 

parts  of  a  family,  the  issue  of  three  marriages.  It 
was  not  until  I  had  thus,  in  different  places,  had  the 
honor  of  being  introduced  to  fresh  wives  and  chil- 
dren, that  I  began  to  understand  that  his  little  tour 
might  possibly  have  other  ends  in  view  than  those 
of  a  simple  juridical  circuit.  Nor  was  the  difference 
great  between  the  manner  in  which  he  was  received 
in  his  own  tents  and  in  those  of  strangers ;  the  mol- 
lah,  as  he  was  styled  par  excellence^  was  in  the  tents 
of  the  Turkomans  every  where  at  home,  every  where 
master.  Even  in  the  settlements  of  hostile  tribes  he 
was  rtot  only  treated  with  honorable  distinction,  but 
laden  with  presents ;  nor  was  I,  who  was  here  play- 
ing the  part  of  his  disciple,  forgotten  in  the  award 
of  favor,  but  was  presented  with  namdzdji  (mats  for 
kneeling  upon  when  at  prayer),  made  of  felt,  a  Turk- 
oman overcloak,  and  a  large  felt  cap,  the  ordinary 
head-dress  of  these  nomad  tribes.  Setting  this  upon 
my  head,  and  winding  around  it  the  scarf  to  form  the 
light  turban,  behold  me  now  for  the  moment  meta- 
morphosed into  a  Turkoman  mollah ! 

When  I  returned  to  Gomtishtepe  I  found  my  fel- 
low-hadjis,  who  had  not  approved  of  my  excursion, 
very  anxious  on  account  of  my  prolonged  absence. 
I  inquired  respecting  the  health  of  each  of  them.  I 
learned  that  Hadji  Salih  had  carried  on  a  brilliant 
trade  with  his  pliysic ;  that  a  theft  had  been  com- 
mitted upon  Hadji  Kari  Meszud  in  a  mosque — that 
is,  in  a  tent  that  served  as  such,  in  which  he  had  taken 
up  his  quarters.  After  a  long  search  in  every  direc- 
tion, as  no  discovery  was  made,  the  ishan  (priest)  de- 
clared that  he  would  at  once  utter  his  malediction 


Chap.  V.  A  MEDICAL  PRESCRIPTION.  81 

upon  the  thief  should  he  not  restore  the  stolen  prop- 
erty. Before  twenty-four  hours  had  expired  the  con- 
science-stricken criminal  came  forward,  bringing  with 
him  not  only  the  stolen  property,  but  a  present  as 
atonement.  I  venture  to  recommend  this  practice 
to  the  London  detectives  as  a  substitute  for  their 
present  system. 

I  now  learned,  also,  satisfactory  intelligence  re- 
specting a  caravan  proceeding  to  Khiva.  My  friends 
told  me  that  the  Khan  of  Khiva,  who  had  been  rec- 
ommended by  the  physicians  the  use  of  the  milk  of 
the  buffalo  for  his  health,  had  sent  express  to  Go- 
miishtepe  his  kervanbashi*  to  purchase  for  him  two 
pair  of  these  animals,  which  were  not  to  be  met  with 
in  his  own  country.  This  official  had  proceeded  to 
Astrabad,  and  on  his  return  the  journey  was  to  be  at 
once  made  with  every  guarantee  of  success,  as  it  would 
be  under  the  immediate  guidance  of  a  man  whose  ex- 
perience of  the  desert  was  unrivaled.  I  was  aston- 
ished to  find  how  many  of  my  fellow-travelers,  the 
poorest  of  the  poor,  in  spite  of  the  noble  hospitality 
of  which  they  had  been  partakers,  were  already  wea- 
ry of  the  Turkomans ;  for  it  would  be,  they  said,  im- 
possible for  men  having  the  least  sentiment  of  hu- 
manity to  be  eye-witnesses  any  longer  of  the  cruel 
treatment  to  which  the  wretched  Persian  slaves  had 
to   submit.      "True,  the  Persians  are  heretics,  and 

*  Kervanbashi,  leader  or  chief  of  caravans.  He  receives  his 
appointment  from  the  khan,  and  is  generally  a  person  of  great 
experience  in  the  different  routes.  Each  caravan  route  has  its 
own  kervanbashi,  who  is  distinguished  by  the  name  of  his  par- 
ticular route. 

F 


32  TKAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  V. 

they  tormented  us  terribly  in  our  journey  through 
their  country ;  but  what  the  poor  wretches  here  suf- 
fer is  really  too  much."  The  compassion  evinced  by 
my  fellow-travelers,  in  whose  own  country  the  slave- 
trade  is  not  carried  on,  and  the  imprecations  they 
used  against  the  karaktchi  (robbers)  for  their  inhu- 
manity, convey  the  best  impression  of  the  sufferings 
to  which  the  poor  captives  are  exposed.  Let  us 
only  picture  to  ourselves  the  feelings  of  a  Persian, 
even  admitting  that  he  is  the  poorest  of  his  race, 
who  is  surprised  by  a  night  attack,  hurried  away 
from  his  family,  and  brought  hither  a  prisoner,  and 
often  wounded.  He  has  to  exchange  his  dress  for 
old  Turkoman  rags  that  only  scantily  cover  parts  of 
his  body,  and  is  heavily  laden  with  chains  that  gall 
his  ankles,  and  occasion  him  great  and  unceasing 
pain  every  step  he  takes;  he  is  forced  upon  the  poor- 
est diet  to  linger  the  first-  days,  often  weeks  of  his 
captivity.  That  he  may  make  no  attempt  at  flight, 
he  has  also  during  the  night  a  karabogra  (iron  ring) 
attached  to  his  neck  and  fastened  to  a  peg,  so  that 
the  rattle  betrays  even  the  slightest  movements.  No 
other  termination  to  his  sufferings  than  the  payment 
of  a  ransom  by  his  friends ;  and,  failing  this,  he  is 
liable  to  be  sold,  and  perhaps  hurried  off  to  Khiva 
and  Bokhara ! 

To  the  rattle  of  those  chains  I  could  never  habitu- 
ate my  ears ;  it  is  heard  in  the  tent  of  every  Turko- 
man who  has  any  pretensions  to  respectability  or  po- 
sition. Even  our  friend  Khandjan  had  two  slaves, 
lads,  only  in  their  eighteenth  and  twentieth  year;  and 
to  behold  these  unfortunates,  in  the  bloom  of  their 


Chap.V.  PERSIAN  SLAVES.  83 

youth,  in  fetters,  made  me  feel  indescribable  emotion, 
repeated  every  day.  In  addition,  I  was  forced  to  lis- 
ten in  silence  to  the  abuse  and  curses  with  which 
these  poor  wretches  were  loaded.  The  smallest  dem- 
onstration of  compassion  would  have  awakened  sus- 
picions, as,  on  account  of  my  knowledge  of  Persian,  I 
was  most  frequently  addressed  by  them.  The  young- 
est of  our  domestic  slaves,  a  handsome  black-haired 
Irani,  begged  of  me  to  be  so  good  as  to  write  a  letter 
for  him  to  his  relatives,  praying  them  for  God's  sake 
to  sell  sheep  and  house  in  order  to  ransom  him,  which 
letter  I  accordingly  wrote.  Upon  one  occasion  I 
thought,  without  being  perceived,  I  might  give  him 
a  cup  of  tea,  but  unluckily,  at  the  moment  when  he 
extended  his  hand  to  receive  it,  some  one  entered  the 
tent.  I  pretended  to  be  only  beckoning  to  him,  and, 
^stead  of  presenting  him  the  tea,  I  felt  constrained 
to  give  him  a  few  slight  blows.  During  my  stay  in 
Gomtishtepe  no  night  passed  without  a  shot  echoing 
from  the  sea-shore  to  announce  the  arrival  of  some 
piratical  vessel  laden  with  booty.  The  next  morn- 
ing I  went  to  demand  from  the  heroes  the  tithes  due 
to  the  dervishes,  or  rather,  let  me  say,  to  behold  the 
poor  Persians  in  the  first  moments  of  their  misfor- 
tune. My  heart  bled  at  the  horrid  sight ;  and  so  I 
had  to  harden  myself  to  these  most  striking  contrasts 
of  virtue  and  vice,  of  humanity  and  tyranny,  of  scru- 
pulous honesty  and  the  very  scum  of  knavery. 

I  had  staid  only  a  fortnight  when,  like  my  compan- 
ions, I  began  to  weary  of  the  place,  my  eyes  feeding 
with  inexpressible  longing  upon  the  frontiers  of  Per- 
sia.    Only  a  few  leagues  separate  the  two  countries. 


84  TRAVELS  IN  CENTEAL  ASIA.  Chap.  V. 

and  yet  the  manners,  customs,  and  modes  of  thinking 
among  the  Turkomans  are  just  as  different  as  if  the 
two  nations  were  a  thousand  miles  asunder.  How 
wonderful  the  influence  of  religion  and  of  historical 
tradition  upon  mankind!  I  can  not  refrain  from 
laughing  when  I  think  that  these  Turkomans,  in 
some  particulars  so  cruel  and  so  inhuman,  were  at 
this  very  time  constantly  giving  entertainments, 
"lillah"  (for  pious  ends),  at  which  it  was  necessary 
that  our  entire  company  of  pilgrims  should  be  pres- 
ent. These  invitations  were  repeated  several  times 
during  the  day.  It  was  only  the  first  and  second 
that  I  was  disposed  to  accept;  from  the  third  I 
showed  by  my  manner  that  I  wished  to  be  excused ; 
but  my  would-be  host  forced  me  by  many  pushes  in 
the  ribs  to  leave  my  tent.  According  to  the  rule  of 
Turkoman  etiquette,  "the  harder  the  push,  the  more 
hearty  the  invitation."  On  such  festal  occasions  the 
Amphytrion  threw  down  before  the  tent  some  pieces 
of  felt — or,  if  it  were  his  humor  to  be  sumptuous,  a 
carpet — whereupon  the  guests  seated  themselves  in 
groups  of  five  or  six  in  a  circle,  and  each  group  re- 
ceived a  large  wooden  dish  proportioned  in  size  and 
contents  to  the  number  and  ages  of  those  who  were 
to  share  it.  Into  the  dish  every  guest  plunged  his 
half-open  fist,  until  emptied  to  the  very  bottom.  The 
quality  and  dressing  of  the  meats  which  were  served 
to  us  are  not  calculated  to  interest  much  our  "gas- 
tronomes.'" I  merely  remark,  therefore,  in  passing, 
that  horse-flesh  and  camel-flesh  were  the  order  of  the 
day:  what  other  dishes  represented  our  venison  I 
must  decline  mentioning. 


Chap.  V.  TURKOMAN  ENTERTAINMENTS.  85 

During  my  sojourn  with  Khandjan,  he  affianced 
his  son  (twelve  years  old,  as  before  mentioned)  to  a 
maiden  ifi  her  tenth  year.  This  event  was  accompa- 
nied by  a  festival,  from  which,  as  his  guests,  we  could 
not  absent  ourselves.  On  entering  the  tent  of  the 
"fiancee,"  we  found  her  completely  occupied  with 
working  a  shawl.  Her  manner  was  that  of  one  un- 
conscious of  the  presence  of  others ;  and  during  our 
stay,  which  lasted  two  hours,  I  only  once  remarked 
from  her  furtive  glance  that  she  took  any  interest  in 
our  company.  During  the  banquet,  which,  in  my 
honor,  consisted  of  rice  boiled  in  milk,  Khandjan  ob- 
served that  this  festival  had  been  fixed  for  the  next 
autumn ;  but  he  had  wished  to  turn  to  account  the 
occasion  of  our  presence,  that  the  event  might  take 
place  under  our  auspices  and  benedictions. 

Let  me  not  here  forget  to  mention  that  we  were 
entertained  also  on  this  occasion  by  a  karaktchi,  who 
had,  alone  on  foot,  not  only  made  three  Persians  pris- 
oners, but  had  also  by  himself  driven  them  before 
him  into  captivity  for  a  distance  of  eight  miles.  He 
gave  us  the  tithes  of  the  spoil  due  to  the  Church, 
consisting  of  a  small  sum  of  two  krans ;  *  and  how 
happy  he  was  when  we  with  one  voice  intoned  a 
fatiha  to  bless  him ! 

After  having  lingered,  very  much  against  my  will, 
three  weeks  in  Gomiishtepe,  the  hospitable  Khandjan 
at  last  showed  a  disposition  to  aid  our  preparations 
for  departure.  We  considered  that  the  purchase  of 
camels  would  entail  too  much  expense;  we  conse- 
quently determined  to  hire  one  for  every  two  of  us  to 
carry  our  water  and  our  flour.     This  might  have  been 


86  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Cuai».  V. 

very  difficult  had  we  not  been  so  fortunate  as  to  pos- 
sess in  our  cattle-dealer,  Ilias  Beg,  a  proper  adviser 
for  the  purpose.  He  was  not,  perhaps,  a  religious 
person,  nor  had  he  much  reverence  for  our  hadji  char- 
acter ;  but  he  only  showed  the  more  exactitude  to 
fulfill  the  law  of  hospitality,  and  the  more  disposition 
to  make  the  greatest  sacrifices  to  give  us  satisfaction. 
Ilias  is  properly  a  Turkoman  from  Khiva,  and  of  the 
tribe  of  the  Yomuts;  he  makes  a  journey  of  business 
every  year  through  the  desert  to  Gomiishtepe,  and 
during  his  stay  is  under  the  protection  of  Khandjan, 
without  which  his  position  is  as  insecure  as  that  of 
any  other  stranger.  He  comes  generally  in  autumn, 
and  returns  in  spring,  with  twenty  or  thirty  camels 
loaded  with  his  own  merchandise  or  that  of  strangers. 
Having  been  induced  this  year  to  take  back  with  hhn 
some  extra  camels,  the  small  additional  sum  for  hire 
of  these  camels  was,  as  it  were,  a  God-send.  Khan- 
djan had  recommended  us  in  the  warmest  manner, 
and  the  words  "Ilias,  you  will  answer  with  your  life,'' 
had  clearly  shown  him  in  what  degree  of  estimation 
we  stood  with  our  host.  Ilias  cast  his  eyes  down  to 
the  ground,  as  the  nomads  are  in  the  habit  of  doing 
when  they  appear  most  in  earnest ;  and  his  answer, 
in  a  low  tone,  which  seemed  to  issue  from  him  with- 
out any  movement  of  the  lips,  was,  "You  surely  do 
not  know  me."  The  singular  sang-froid  of  the  two 
Turkomans,  as  they  dealt  together,  began  to  irritate 
my  still  half-European  character ;  and  forgetting  that 
Hadji  Bilal  and  my  other  companions  were  also  pres- 
ent, and  yet  remained  motionless,  I  made  some  re- 
marks ;  but  I  soon  had  occasion  to  regret  it,  for  even 


Chap.  V.        ARRANGEMENT  WITH  CATTLE-DEALER.  37 

after  having  addressed  them  several  times,  my  words 
remained  without  notice.  Without,  therefore,  Ven- 
turing to  mix  in  the  negotiation,  it  was  determined 
that  we  should  hire  a  camel  for  two  ducats  to  go  as 
far  as  Khiva ;  and  as  for  our  flour  and  water,  Ilias 
declared  that  he  would  take  it  with  him  without 
compensation. 

The  small  sum  of  money  belonging  to  me,  which  I 
had  sewn  and  hidden  in  different  parts  of  my  men- 
dicant attire,  together  with  the  tolerably  rich  harvest 
of  my  hadji  dealings  among  the  Turkomans,  had 
abundantly  provided  for  me,  so  that  I  was  in  a  po- 
sition to  hire  a  camel  for  myself  alone ;  but  I  was 
dissuaded  by  Hadji  Bilal  and  Sultan  Mahmoud,  who 
remarked  that  an  appearance  of  wretchedness  calcu- 
lated to  excite  compassion  was  the  best  guarantee' 
for  safety  among  these  nomads,  while  their  covetous- 
ness  was  sure  to  be  excited  by  the  slightest  sign  of 
affluence.  A  suspicion  of  wealth  might  convert  the 
best  friend  into  a  foe.  They  named  several  of  the 
hadjis  who  were  well  provided  with  means,  and  who, 
nevertheless,  for  the  sake  of  prudence,  Vv^ere  obliged  to 
wander  on  in  rags  and  on  foot.  I  admitted  the  ne- 
cessity, and  secured  a  joint  share  in  a  camel,  only  stip- 
ulating for  permission  to  make  use  of  a  kedjeve  (pair 
of  wooden  baskets,  han2;in":  down  from  the  two  sides 
of  the  camel),  as  I  should  find  it  very  fatiguing,  with 
my  lame  foot  and  without  cessation,  to  ride  day  and 
night  forty  stations,  squeezed  with  another  into  the 
same  wooden  saddle.  At  first  Ilias  objected,  because, 
according  to  him  (and  he  was  indeed  right),  the  ked- 
jeve in  the  desert  would  have  been  a  double  burden 


88  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.       Chap.  V. 

for  the  poor  beast.  Khandjan,  however,  at  last  per- 
suaded him,  and  he  consented.  On  the  journey  to 
Khiva,  which  we  Avere  to  perform  in  twenty  days, 
and  of  which  every  one  spoke  in  a  manner  to  make 
us  feel  fearful  misgivings,  I  should  at  least  have  the 
consolation  of  being  able  now  and  then  to  sleep  a  lit- 
tle ;  but  what  pleased  me  most  in  the  whole  arrange- 
ment was  that  I  should  have  for  my  vis-d-vis  and 
*' equipoise,"  as  the  two  kedjeve  were  termed,  my 
bosom  friend  Hadji  Bilal,  whose  society  began  by 
degrees  to  become  indispensable  for  me.  After  the 
dialogue  was  over,  we  paid,  as  is  the  custom,  the  hire 
beforehand.  Hadji  Bilal  said  a  fatiha;  and  after  Ilias 
had  passed  his  fingers  through  his  beard,  consisting, 
it  is  true,  of  only  a  few  straggling  hairs,  we  had  no 
occasion  to  take  any  other  steps,  and  we  but  begged 
that  the  departure  might  be  hastened  as  much  as  pos- 
sible. This,  however,  he  could  not  promise,  as  it  de- 
pended upon  the  kervanbashi  of  the  khan,  who,  with 
his  buffaloes,  was  to  place  himself  at  the  head  of  our 
caravan.  In  a  few  days  we  were  ready  to  start  for 
Etrek,  our  rendezvous.  After  the  preparations  had 
been  completed  I  burnt  with  twofold  ardor  to  quit 
Gomiishtepe ;  for,  first,  we  had  lost  time  here,  and 
I  perceived  that  the  hot  season  was  more  and  more 
advancing,  and  we  feared  that  the  rain-water,  still  to 
be  found  in  the  desert,  would  become  scarcer ;  and, 
secondly,  I  began  to  grow  uneasy  at  the  ridiculous 
reports  which  were  in  circulation  respecting  me. 
While  many  saw  in  me  merely  a  pious  dervish,  oth- 
ers could  not  rid  themselves  of  the  idea  that  I  was 
a  man  of  influence,  an  envoy  of  the  sultan,  in  corre- 


Chap.  V.  INDIPFERENCE.— FATE.— TREACHERY.  89 

spondence  with  the  Turkish  embassador  in  Teheran, 
who  was  bringing  a  thousand  muskets  with  him,  and 
was  engaged  in  a  plot  against  Russia  and  Persia. 
Had  this  come  to  the  ears  of  the  Russians  in  Ash- 
ourada,  they  would  have  certainly  laughed  at  it,  but 
still  it  might  have  led  to  inquiries  resjDecting  the  sin- 
gular stranger,  and  the  discovery  of  ray  disguise 
might  have  involved  a  cruel,  perhaps  a  life-long  cap- 
tivity. I  therefore  begged  Hadji  Bilal  repeatedly  at 
least  to  leave  Gomiishtepe,  but  his  previous  impa- 
tience had  given  way  to  absolute  indifference  as  soon 
as  Ilias  had  engaged  with  us  ;  on  my  urging  him,  he 
even  answered  how  ridiculously  childish  it  was  for 
me  to  seek  to  anticipate  the  decrees  of  destiny. 
"Thy  haste,"  said  he  to  me,  "is  all  thrown  away; 
thou  must  perforce  remain  on  the  Gorghen's  banks 
until  the  nasib  (fate)  has  decreed  that  thou  shouldst 
drink  water  in  another  place;  and  no  one  knows 
whether  this  will  occur  at  an  early  or  a  late  period. " 
Only  imagine  what  effect  an  answer  so  Oriental  was 
calculated  to  produce  upon  a  mind  that  had  just 
cause  to  feel  impatience !  I  saw,  however,  but  too 
well,  the  impossibility  of  escape,  and  so  submitted  to 
my  fate. 

About  this  time  it  happened  that  some  karaktchi 
had,  by  treachery,  in  one  of  their  depredatory  expedi- 
tions, seized  upon  five  Persians.  One  of  these  was  a 
man  of  property.  The  robbers  had  sailed  in  a  vessel 
up  beyond  Karatepe,  under  the  pretense  of  purchas- 
ing a  cargo  from  the  village  of  the  Persians.  The 
bargain  was  soon  made ;  and  scarcely  had  the  unsus- 
picious Persians  appeared  with  their  goods  upon  the 


90  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.        Chap.  V. 

sea-shore,  than  they  were  seized,  bound  hand  and  foot, 
buried  up  to  their  necks  in  their  own  wheat,  and 
forcibly  carried  off  to  Gomtishtepe.  I  was  present 
when  these  unfortunates  were  unpacked,  so  to  say. 
One  of  them  was  also  dangerously  wounded  ;  and  I 
heard  the  Turkomans  themselves  characterize  the  act 
as  a  deed  of  shame.  Even  the  Russians  in  Ashou- 
rada  interested  themselves  in  the  affair,  and  threat- 
ened a  landing  if  the  prisoners  were  not  immediately 
set  at  liberty.  As  the  robbers  resolutely  refused  to 
let  their  prize  go,  I  thought  that  now  the  rest  of  the 
Turkomans,  who  run  common  risk  from  the  Rus- 
sians, would  compel  their  countrymen  to  give  way. 
Not  at  all ;  they  ran  up  and  down,  distributing  arms, 
in  order,  should  the  Russians  land,  to  give  them  a 
warm  reception.  It  may  be  interesting  to  know 
that  I  was  also  appointed  to  shoulder  a  musket,  and 
great  was  my  embarrassment  when  I  reflected  upon 
whom  I  should  be  expected  to  fire.  Happily,  no  at- 
tempt was  made  to  carry  out  the  threat.*  Next 
morning  a  Russian  steamer  came  quite  close  to  the 
shore,  but  the  matter  was  disposed  of  by  a  political 
manoeuvre ;  that  is  to  say,  the  Turkomans  gave  hos- 
tages for  the  future,  but  the  Persians  remained  in 
chains.  The  wealthy  prisoner  paid  a  ransom  of  100 
ducats ;   another,  who  was  crippled  in  both  hands 

*  Let  not  the  reader  be  surprised  by  the  equivocal  attitude  of 
the  Russian  authorities.  Persia  regards  every  landing  of  the 
Russian  forces  on  the  coasts  as  a  hostile  invasion  of  its  own  soil, 
and  prefers  to  endure  the  depredations  of  the  Turkomans  rather 
than  avail  itself  of  the  Russian  arms,  which  might,  it  is  true,  in 
particular  cases,  be  of  service  to  them,  but  would  not  fail,  on  the 
whole,  to  be  most  detrimental. 


Chap.  V.  ETREK.— KULKHAN.  Qi 

and  feet,  and  was  not  worth  the  sum  of  four  ducats, 
was  set  free  in  honor  of  the  Russians ;  but  the  three 
others — strong  men — were  loaded  with  still  heavier 
chains,  and  led  away  to  the  usual  place  of  torture  for 
the  slaves,  at  Etrek.  The  name  of  Etrek,  which  is 
given  both  to  a  river  and  the  inhabited  district  in  its 
vicinity,  is  a  word  of  terror  and  a  curse  for  the  un- 
fortunate inhabitants  of  Mazendran  and  Taberistan. 
The  Persian  must  be  very  incensed  when  he  allows 
the  Avords  "Etrek  biufti!"  (may  you  be  driven  to 
Etrek ! )  to  escape  his  lips.  As  it  was  fixed  for  the 
rendezvous  of  our  caravan,  I  was  soon  to  have  the 
opportunity  of  seeing  closely  into  this  nest  of  horror. 
Khandjan  had  also  had  the  goodness  to  recommend 
me  as  guest  to  Kulkhan,  the  pir  (graybeard)  of  the 
karaktchi.  He  came  to  us  very  opportunely.  The 
old  sinner  had  a  sombre  repulsive  physiognomy. 
He  did  not  by  any  means  meet  me  in  a  friendly 
manner  when  I  was  transferred  to  his  hospitality. 
He  examined  my  features  a  long  time,  occasionally 
whispering  something  in  the  ear  of  Khandjan,  and 
seemed  determined  to  discover  in  me  more  than  oth- 
er people  had  seen.  The  cause  of  this  distrust  I  soon 
detected.  Kulkhan  had  in  his  youth  traveled  through 
the  southern  parts  of  Russia  in  company  with  Khidr 
Khan,  who  was  in  the  service  of  the  Czar.  He  had 
also  long  lived  at  Tiflis,  and  was  pretty  familiar  with 
our  European  modes  of  existence.  He  remarked 
that  he  had  seen  many  nations,  but  never  the  Os- 
manlis.  He  had  heard  it  said  of  them  that  they  had 
sprung  from  a  tribe  of  Turkomans,  whom  besides 
they  resembled  in  every  respect ;  and  that  his  aston- 


92  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  V. 

ishment  was  great  to  distinguish  in  me  quite  opposite 
characteristics.  Hadji  Bilal  remarked  that  his  own 
information  upon  the  subject  was^not  good,  and  that 
he  had  actually  lived  several  years  in  Roum,  without 
having  occasion  to  make  any  similar  observation; 
whereupon  Kulkhan  told  us  he  would  return  two 
days  afterward,  early  in  the  morning,  to  his  ova  in 
Etrek,  recommended  us  to  make  ourselves  ready  for 
our  journey,  inasmuch  as  without  his  conduct  we 
should  be  unable  to  travel  hence  to  Etrek,  although 
only  a  distance  of  twelve  miles ;  and,  in  short,  that 
he  was  only  waiting  the  return  of  his  son  Kolman* 
from  the  alaman  (predatory  expedition)  to  the  Per- 
sian frontiers,  in  quest  of  some  fine  mares.  The  re- 
turn of  his  son  from  this  piratical  adventure  was 
awaited  by  Kulkhan  with  almost  the  samfe  feelings 
as  those  with  which  a  father  among  us  would  expect 
his  son  coming  home  from  an  heroic  expedition,  or 
other  honorable  enterprise.  He  also  informed  us 
that  we  might  walk  forward  a  little  way  down  the 
banks  of  the  Gorghen,  for  his  son  was  to  return 
about  this  time,  and  we  should  then  see  something 
worth  seeing.  As  I  had  nothing  at  that  moment 
else  to  do,  I  was  not  displeased  to  comply  with  the 
invitation.  I  mixed  with  the  crowd  which  was  look- 
ing, with  the  greatest  impatience,  for  the  first  sight 
of  the  party.  At  last  eight  mounted  Turkomans  ap- 
peared on  the  opposite  bank,  bringing  ten  led  horses 
with  them.  I  thought  that  now  the  expectant  mul- 
titude would  give  vent  to  their  enthusiasm  in  hur- 
rahs, but  they  uttered  no  sound ;  all  measured  with 
*  Propei'ly  Kulumali. 


Chap.  V.  RETURN  OF  A  TURKOMAN  ALAMAN.  93 

greedy  eyes  and  speechless  admiration  those  who 
were  approaching.  The  latter  dashed  into  the  Gor- 
ghen,  across  which  in  an  instant  they  swam  to  the 
bank  on  our  side,  where,  dismounting,  they  extended 
their  hands  with  indescribable  earnestness  to  their 
relatives.  While  the  seniors  were  passing  the  spoil 
in  review  with  the  greatest  attention,  the  young  he- 
roes were  occupied  in  arranging  their  dress.  Lifting 
their  heavy  fur  caps,  they  wiped  the  sweat  from  head 
and  forehead. 

The  whole  spectacle  was  splendid.  Whatever  my 
contempt  for  the  robbers  and  their  abominable  do- 
ings, my  eye  fell  still  with  particular  pleasure  upon 
these  young  men,  who,  in  their  short  riding  dresses, 
with  their  bold  looks,  and  hair  falling  to  their  breasts 
in  curly  locks  as  they  laid  aside  their  weapons,  were 
the  admiration  of  all.  Even  the  gloomy  Kulkhan 
seemed  cheerful:  he  introduced  his  son  to  us,  and 
after  Hadji  Bilal  had  bestowed  his  benediction  upon 
him,  we  separated.  The  next  morning  we  were  to 
proceed  from  Gomiishtepe,  accompanied  by  Kulkhan, 
his  son,  and  stolen  horses,  to  Etrek. 


94  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Ciiap.VI. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


DEPARTURE    FROM   GoMUSHTEPB. — CHARACTER    OF    OUR    LATE    HOST. — TURKO- 
MAN   MOUNDS    OR    TOMBS. DISAGREEABLE    ADVENTURE    WITH   WILD    BOARS. 

PLATEAU    TO    THE    NORTH    OF   GOMUSHTEPE. NOMAD    HABITS. — TURKOMAN 

HOSPITALITY. — THE  LAST  GOAT. — PERSIAN  SLAVE. — COMMENCEMENT   OF  THE 

DESERT. A    TURKOMAN    WIFE    AND     SLAVE. ETREK. PERSIAN    SLAVES. — 

RUSSIAN     SAILOR     SLAVE.  —  PROPOSED    ALLIANCE     BETWEEN     TOMUTS     AND 

TEKKE. RENDEZVOUS    WITH    THE    KERVANBASHI. TRIBE    KEM. ADIEU    TO 

ETREK. — AFGHAN   MAKES   MISCHIEF. — DESCRIPTION   OF   THE   CARAVAN. 


"  Gens  confinis  Hyrcanice,  cultu  vitce  aspera  et  latrociniis  asstieta." — Q.  Cur- 
tii  Ruf.,  lib.  vi.,  cap.  5. 


At  noon  the  following  day  I  left  Gomiishtepe 
with  my  most  intimate  fellow-travelers,  accompanied 
for  some  time  by  Khandjan  and  all  my  other  friends. 
Khandjan  went  on  foot  with  us  nearly  a  league  on 
our  way,  as  is  the  custom  among  the  nomads  in  the 
case  of  very  esteemed  guests.  I  entreated  him  sev- 
eral times  to  return,  but  fruitlessly ;  he  insisted  upon 
punctually  fulfilling  all  the  rules  of  ancient  Turko- 
man hospitality,  that  I  might  never  afterward  have 
any  ground  of  complaint  against  him.  To  say  the 
truth,  my  heart  was  very  heavy  when  I  extricated 
myself  from  his  last  embrace,  for  I  had  known  in  him 
one  of  the  most  honorable  of  men.  Without  any  in- 
terested motive,  he  had  not  only  for  a  long  time  en- 
tertained me  and  five  other  pilgrims  in  his  own 
house,  but  had  given  me  every  explanation  that  I  had 
required.     I  feel  even  now  pained  that  I  can  not 


Chap.  VI.  DEPARTURE  FROM  GOMUSHTEPE.  95 

make  him  any  return  for  his  kindness,  but  still  more 
that  I  was  forced  to  deceive  so  sincere  a  friend  by 
any  mystery. 

Our  path  was  northeasterly,  departing  more  and 
more  from  the  sea-shore,  in  the  direction  of  the  two 
great  mounds,  of  which  one  bears  the  name  of  Kore- 
safi,  the  other  that  of  Altin  Tokmak.  Besides  these 
mounds,  one  discovers  here  and  there  numerous  josz- 
ka  (Turkoman  barrows) ;  with  these  exceptions,  the 
district  is  one  boundless  flat.  Scarcely  a  quarter  of 
a  league  from  Gomiishtepe,  we  found  ourselves  pro- 
ceeding through  splendid  meadows,  where  the  grass 
was  as  high  as  the  knee,  and  of  a  delicious  odor.  It 
all  withers  away  without  being  of  service  to  any  one, 
for  the  inhabitants  of  Gomiishtepe  are  tchomru  (that 
is,  not  cattle-breeders).  What  lovely  villages  might 
flourish  in  this  well- watered  district ;  what  animated 
life  might  here  reign,  instead  of  the  stillness  of  death  ! 
Our  small  caravan,  consisting  of  the  camels  belong- 
ing to  Ilias  and  of  six  horses,  kept  close  together,  for 
Kulkhan  affirmed  that  there  were  hereabouts  karak- 
tchis  who  were  not  under  his  orders,  and  who  would 
assail  him  if  they  felt  themselves  strong  enough  to 
do  so.  Ilias,  this  once,  was  pleased  to  spare  me  my 
ride  upon  the  camel ;  he  took  from  Kulkhan  one  of 
the  stolen  horses,  upon  which  I  was  to  ride  as  far  as 
Etrek.  Unfortunately,  as  it  happened.  Emir  Mehem- 
med,  the  Afghan  opium-eater  from  Karatepe,  who 
had  already  fastened  himself  upon  our  caravan,  had 
remained  on  foot,  and  whenever  we  had  to  traverse 
any  puddle  or  other  wet  ground,  I  could  not  refuse 
to  take  him  on  my  saddle,  and  then  he  grasped  my 


96  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VI. 

clothes  SO  tightly  that  I  often  thought  I  should  be 
thrown  down.  This  partnership  ride  made  me  run 
much  risk  when  we  were  obliged  to  cut  our  way 
through  the  great  marshes,  covered  with  reeds,  which 
swarmed  with  herds  of  wild  boars,  numerous  beyond 
conception.  Kulkhan  and  Ilias  rode  before,  to  find 
a  circuitous  way,  to  enable  us  to  avoid  hundreds  of 
these  animals,  whose  proximity  we  perceived,  not 
only  by  their  incessant  grunting,  but  more  especially 
by  the  cracking  sound  caused  by  their  movements 
among  the  reeds.  While  I  was  riding  on  with  at- 
tentive ear,  my  horse  suddenly  shied  and  took  a  great 
bound  sideways.  I  had  hardly  time  to  look  round 
to  ascertain  the  cause,  when  I  and  my  comrade  lay 
stretched  upon  the  ground.  The  loud  laughter  of 
my  companions,  who  were  a  few  paces  from  us,  min- 
gled with  a  strange  howling.  I  turned  myself  round, 
and  found  that  I  had  been  thrown  upon  two  wild 
boars  o,f  tender  age ;  it  was  their  mother  that  had 
caused  our  horse  to  shy,  but  now,  rendered  savage  by 
the  cry  of  her  young  ones,  she  stood  showing  her 
tusks  at  no  great  distance  from  us,  and  would  most 
certainly  have  charged  us,  had  not  Shirdjan,  the 
cousin  of  Ilias,  come  to  our  aid,  and  barred  the  way 
with  his  extended  lance.  Whether  it  was  owing  to 
the  bravery  of  the  young  Turkoman,  or  the  silence  of 
the  young  pigs — now  liberated  from  their  constrained 
position — I  can  not  say,  but  the  incensed  mother 
beat  a  retreat,  and,  with  her  face  still  to  the  foe,  hast- 
ened back  to  her  lair,  which  we  had  not  been  slow  to 
abandon.  Kulkhan's  son  had  in  the  mean  time  se- 
cured our  horse  that  had  escaped.     He  restored  him 


98  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VI. 

to  me  with  the  remark  that  "I  might  regard  myself 
as  lucky,  for  that  a  death  by  the  wound  of  a  wild 
boar  would  send  even  the  most  pious  Mussulman 
nedjis  (unclean)  into  the  next  world,  where  a  hund- 
red years'  burning  in  purgatorial  fire  would  not 
purge  away  his  uncleanness." 

After  having  continued  our  way  for  about  four 
hours  in  the  above-named  direction,  amid  marshes 
and  meadows,  I  noticed  that  we  had  gained  the  slop- 
ing sides  of  the  plateau  that  extends  north  from 
Gomiishtepe,  for  not  only  the  elevations,  but  the 
Persian  mountains  on  the  frontiers  themselves,  be- 
gan gradually  to  disappear;  only  a  few  groups  of 
tents,  in  the  vicinity  of  which  camels  were  grazing, 
were  visible  at  a  great  distance ;  and  although,  on 
all  the  four  sides,  the  miost  lovely  verdure  enchanted 
the  eye,  the  eastern  district,  which  I  had  visited  be- 
fore with  Kizil  Akhond,  is  far  more  thickly  peopled. 
There  being  no  river  like  the  Gorghen,  the  well-water, 
of  which  the  people  make  use,  is  exhausted  by  the 
time  the  rich  meadows  have  sufficiently  fattened  their 
sheep.  Tents,  consequently,  are  only  to  be  seen  here 
in  May  and  in  June.  One  of  these  groups  of  tents, 
peopled  by  the  dependents  of  Kulkhan,  was  to  give 
us  shelter  this  night,  as  Etrek  was  still  six  miles* 
distant — a  whole  day's  journey  for  our  heavily-laden 
camels.  Due  notice  had  been  given  of  our  approach, 
and  my  hungry  fellow-travelers  soon  saw  in  the  rising 
smoke  the  prospect  of  a  good  supper.  Although 
Gomiishtepe  is   only  four  miles  distant  from   this 

*  The  reader  is  requested  to  understand,  here  and  elsewhere, 
German  miles. 


CiiAP.  VI.  TURKOMAN  HOSPITALITY.  99 

spot,  the  journey  took  us  nearly  eight  hours,  and  this 
first  ride  had  tolerably  wearied  both  man  and  beast. 

The  young  nephew  of  Kulkhan  advanced  ten  paces 
before  the  tents  to  Avelcome  us ;  and,  while  Ilias  and 
the  Afghan  were  the  special  guests  of  Kulkhan,  I 
was  quartered  with  the  hadjis  in  the  small  tent  of 
Allah  Nazi*.  This  old  Turkoman  Avas  beside  him- 
self from  joy  that  heaven  had  sent  him  guests ;  the 
recollection  of  that  scene  will  never  pass  from  my 
mind.  In  spite  of  our  protestations  to  the  contrary, 
he  killed  a  goat,  the  only  one  which  he  possessed,  to 
contribute  to  our  entertainment.  At  a  second  meal, 
which  we  partook  with  him  next  day,  he  found  means 
to  procure  bread  also,  an  article  that  had  not  been 
seen  for  weeks  in  his  dwelling.  While  we  attacked 
the  dish  of  meat,  he  seated  himself  opposite  to  us, 
and  wept,  in  the  exactest  sense  of  the  expression, 
tears  of  joy.  Allah  Nazr  would  not  retain  any  part 
of  the  goat  he  had  killed  in  honor  of  us.  The  horns 
and  hoofs,  which  were  burned  to  ashes,  and  were  to 
be  employed  for  the  galled  places  on  the  camels,  he 
gave  to  Ilias  ;  but  the  skin,  strij^ped  off  in  one  piece, 
he  destined  to  serve  as  my  water -vessel,  and  after 
having  well  rubbed  it  with  salt,  and  dried  it  in  the 
sun,  he  handed  it  over  to  me. 

The  arrival  of  a  slave,  one  of  the  five  of  whom  1 
spoke  in  the  last  chapter,  who  had  fallen  into  the 
snare  so  treacherously  laid  for  them,  detained  Kul- 
khan and  our  party  a  day.  This  poor  Persian  was 
transferred,  for  chastisement,  to  Kulkhan,  who  had 
the  peculiar  reputation  of  being  able  most  easily  to 
ascertain  from  a  captive  whether  he  possessed  suffi- 


100  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VI. 

cient  means  to  enable  his  relatives  to  ransom  him, 
or  whether,  being  without  relatives  or  property,  he 
ought  to  be  sent  on  to  Khiva  for  sale. 

The  former  alternative  is  much  the  more  agreeable 
one  to  the  Turkomans,  as  they  may  demand  any  sum 
they  please.  The  Persian,  who  is  cunning  even  in 
his  misfortune,  always  contrives  to  conceal  his  real 
position ;  he  is  therefore  subjected  to  much  ill-treat- 
ment, until,  by  the  lamentations  which  he  forwards 
to  his  home,  his  captors  have  squeezed  from  his  friends 
the  highest  possible  ransom,  and  it  is  only  when  that 
arrives  that  his  torment  ceases.  The  other  alterna- 
tive is  worse  for  both  parties  ;  the  robber,  after  much 
expenditure,  only  gets  at  last  the  current  price  in  the 
slave-market,  and  the  unfortunate  Persian  is  removed 
to  a  distance  of  some  hundreds  of  miles  from  his  coun- 
try, which  he  very  rarely  sees  again.  Kulkhan  has, 
as  before  mentioned,  great  experience  in  this  depart- 
ment ;  his  latest  victim  arrived  before  evening,  and 
the  next  day  the  journey  was  continued,  after  I  had 
been  warmly  embraced  by  Allah  Nazr,  who  was  just 
as  much  a  Turkoman  as  Kulkhan. 

This  day  I  took  my  seat  for  the  first  time  in  my 
wooden  basket  on  the  camel,  having,  however,  some 
sacks  of  flour  for  my  equipoise,  as  Hadji  Bilal  wish- 
ed on  this  occasion  to  deprive  himself  of  the  pleasure. 
Our  route  was  always  in  a  northerly  direction,  and 
we  had  scarcely  advanced  two  leagues  when  the  ver- 
dure ceased,  and  for  the  first  time  we  found  ourselves 
in  the  dismal  strong-smelling  salt  ground  of  the  wil- 
derness. What  our  eyes  encountered  here  was  a  good 
specimen  ;  a  low  foreland  called  Kara  Sengher  (black 


Chap.  VI.  KULKHAN.— A  SURPRISE.  Kji 

wall)  elevated  itself  at  a  distance  of  about  eight  miles 
to  the  north  of  Gomiishtepe.  The  nearer  we  ap- 
proached this  hill,  the  looser  the  soil  became ;  near 
to  its  foot  we  fell  upon  a  real  morass,  and  our  march 
was  attended  by  increasing  difficulties  in  the  slippery 
mud,  in  which  the  camels,  with  their  spongy  feet,  slid 
at  each  step — indeed,  mine  threatened  to  upset  both 
myself  and  my  basket  into  the  dirt.  I  preferred  dis- 
mounting proi^rio  motu,  and  after  tramping  an  hour 
and  a  half  through  the  mud,  arrived  at  last  at  Kara 
Sengher,  whence  we  soon  reached  the  ova  of  Kulkhan. 
On  arriving,  I  was  greatly  surprised  by  Kulkhan's 
immediately  leading  me  into  his  tent,  and  charging 
me  earnestly  not  to  quit  it  until  he  should  call  me. 
I  began  to  suspect  something  wrong  when  I  heard 
how  he  was  cursing  his  women,  accusing  them  of  al- 
ways mislaying  the  chains,  and  ordering  them  to 
bring  them  to  him  immediately.  Searching  gloom- 
ily for  them,  he  returned  frequently  to  the  tent  witli- 
out  addressing  a  word  to  me :  moreover,  Hadji  BiLil 
did  not  show  himself — he  who  so  seldom  left  me  to 
myself  Sunk  in  the  most  anxious  reflections,  I  at 
last  heard  the  rattling  sound  of  fetters  approaching, 
and  saw  the  Persian  who  had  come  with  us  enter  the 
tent  dragging  with  his  wounded  feet  the  heavy  chains 
after  him ;  for  he  was  the  party  on  whose  account 
Kulkhan  was  making  these  preparations.  He  was 
not  long  in  making  his  appearance.  He  ordered  tea 
to  be  prepared,  and  after  we  had  partaken  of  it,  he 
directed  me  to  rise,  and  led  me  to  a  tent  which  had 
been  in  the  mean  time  set  up ;  he  wished  it  to  be  a 
surprise  for  me.     Such  was  the   object  he  had  in 


102  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VI. 

view  in  his  whole  conduct.  Notwithstanding  this, 
I  could  never  feel  any  attachment  to  him,  for  how 
great  the  diiference  between  him  and  Khandjan  clear- 
ly appeared  from  this,  that  during  the  ten  days  I  was 
his  guest,  this  tea  was  the  only  repast  Kulkhan's  hos- 
pitality accorded  me.  I  was  afterward  informed  of 
his  treacherous  plans,  to  which  he  would  most  cer- 
tainly have  given  effect,  had  not  Kizil  Akhond,  whom 
he  particularly  dreaded,  charged  him  to  treat  me  with 
every  possible  respect. 

The  tent  which  I  now  occupied,  in  company  with 
ten  of  my  traveling  companions,  did  not  belong  to 
Kulkhan,  but  Avas  the  property  of  another  Turko- 
man, who,  with  his  wife — formerly  his  slave,  sprung 
from  the  tribe  of  the  Karakalpak — -joined  our  party 
for  Khiva.  I  learned  that  their  object  in  proceeding 
to  Khiva  was  that  this  woman,  who  had  been  car- 
ried off  in  a  surprise  by  night  and  brought  hither, 
might  ascertain  whether  her  former  husband,  whom 
she  had  left  severely  wounded,  had  afterward  per- 
ished ;  who  had  purchased  her  children,  and  where 
they  now  were;  and — which  she  was  particularly 
anxious  to  know — what  had  become  of  her  daughter, 
a  girl  in  her  twelfth  year,  whose  beauty  she  described 
to  me  with  tears  in  her  eyes.  The  poor  woman,  by 
extraordinary  fidelity  and  laboriousness,  had  so  en- 
chained her  new  master,  that  he  consented  to  accom- 
pany her  on  her  sorrowful  journey  of  inquiry.  I 
was  always  asking  him  wdiat  he  would  do  if  her  for- 
mer husband  were  forthcoming,  but  his  mind  on  that 
point  was  made  up — the  law  guaranteed  him  his 
possession.      "The  nasib  (fate),"  said  he,  "  intended 


Chap.  VI.  SHORT  COMMONS.— RUSSIAN  SLAVE.  103 

to  bestow  on  me  Heidgul"  (properly  Eidgul,  "rose 
of  the  festivar'),  "and  none  can  Avithstand  nasib." 
There  was  besides,  amono-  the  other  travelers  freshly 
arrived,  who  were  to  journey  with  Ilias,  a  dervish 
named  Hadji  Siddik,  a  consummate  hypocrite,  who 
went  about  half  naked,  and  acted  as  groom  to  the 
camels  in  the  desert ;  it  Avas  not  until  after  Ave  had 
arrived  in  Bokhara  that  we  learned  that  he  had  six- 
ty ducats  soAvn  up  in  his  rags. 

The  Avhole  comj)any  inhabited  the  tents  in  com- 
mon, expecting  that  the  khan's  kervanbashi  Avould 
come  up  as  soon  as  possible,  and  that  Ave  should  com- 
mence our  journey  through  the  desert.  The  delay 
Avas  painful  to  us  all.  I  became  alarmed  on  account 
of  the  decrease  of  my  stock  of  flour,  and  I  began  at 
once  to  diminish  my  daily  allowance  by  tAvo  hand- 
fuls.  I  also  baked  it  Avithout  leaA^en  in  the  hot  ash- 
es ;  for  the  produce  is  greater,  it  remains  longer  on 
the  stomach,  and  hunger  torments  one  less.  Fortu- 
nately, we  could  make  short  mendicant  excursions ; 
nor  had  Ave  the  least  reason  to  complain  of  any  lack 
of  charity  on  the  part  of  the  Turkomans  of  Etrek, 
Avho  are,  notAvithstanding,  the  most  notorious  rob- 
bers. We  passed,  indeed,  very  few  of  their  tents 
Avithout  seeing  in  them  tAvo  or  three  Persians  heavily 
laden  with  chains. 

It  Avas  also  here  in  Etrek,  in  the  tent  of  a  distin- 
guished Turkoman  named  Kotchak  Khan,  that  I  en- 
countered a  Russian,  formerly  a  sailor  in  the  naval 
station  at  Ashourada.  We  entered  the  above-named 
chief's  abode  to  take  our  midday  repose  ;  and  scarce- 
ly had  I  been  presented  to   him   as  a  Koumi  (Os- 


104  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASLi.  Chap.  VL 

manli),  when  our  host  remarked,  "Now  I  will  give 
thee  a  treat.  We  know  the  relation  in  which  the 
Osmanlis  stand  with  the  Russians :  thou  shalt  be- 
hold one  of  thy  arch-enemies  in  chains,"  I  was 
forced  to  behave  as  if  I  was  highly  delighted.  The 
poor  Russian  was  led  in,  heavily  chained ;  his  coun- 
tenance was  sickly,  and  very  sorrowful.  I  felt  deep- 
ly moved,  but  was  careful  not  to  betray  my  feelings 
by  any  expression.  "What  would  you  do  with  this 
effendi,"  said  Kotchak  Kkan,  "if  you  encountered 
him  in  Russia?  Go  and  kiss  his  feet."  The  unfor- 
tunate Russian  was  about  to  approach  me,  but  I  for- 
bade, making  at  the  same  time  the  observation  I  had 
only  to-day  begun  my  gusl  (great  purification),  and 
that  I  did  not  want  to  render  myself  unclean  by  my 
contact  with  this  unbeliever ;  that  it  would  even  be 
more  agreeable  to  me  if  he  disappeared  immediately 
from  before  my  eyes,  for  that  this  nation  was  my 
greatest  aversion.  They  motioned  him  to  withdraw, 
which  he  accordingly  did,  throwing  at  me  a  sharp 
look.  As  I  learned  later,  he  was  one  of  two  sailors 
from  the  new  station  at  Ashourada ;  the  other  had 
died  in  captivity  about  a  year  before.  They  had  fall- 
en into  the  hands  of  the  karaktchis  some  years  pre- 
viously in  one  of  their  night  expeditions.  Their  gov- 
ernment offered  to  ransom  them,  but  the  Turkomans 
demanded  an  exorbitant  sum  (five  hundred  ducats 
for  one) ;  and  as,  during  the  negotiation,  Tcherkes 
Bay,  the  brother  of  Kotchak  Khan,  was  sent  by  the 
Russians  to  Siberia,  where  he  died,  the  liberation  of 
the  unfortunate  Christians  became  matter  of  still 
greater  difficulty;   and  now  the  survivor  will  soon 


CuAP.  VI.  CRUELTY  TO  SLAVES.  105 

succumb  under  the  hardships  of  his  captivity,  as  his 
comrade  has  done  before  him.* 

Such  are  the  ever-fluctuating  impressions  of  hospi- 
table virtues  and  unheard-of  barbarisms  produced  by 
these  nomads  upon  the  minds  of  travelers !  Sated 
and  overflowing  with  their  kindness  and  charity,  I 
often  returned  to  our  abode,  when  Kulkhan's  Persian 
slave,  already  mentioned,  would  perhaps  implore  me 
for  a  drop  of  water,  as,  according  to  his  tale,  they 
had  for  two  entire  days  given  him  dried  salt  fish  in- 
stead of  bread,  and  although  he  had  been  forced  to 
work  the  whole  day  in  the  melon-fields,  they  had  de- 
nied him  even  a  drop  of  water.  Luckily,  I  was  alone 
in  the  tent ;  the  sight  of  the  bearded  man  bathed  in 
tears  made  me  forget  all  risks:  I  handed  him  my 
water-skin,  and  he  satisfied  his  thirst  while  I  kept 
w^atch  at  the  door.  Then  thanking  me  warmly,  he 
hastened  away.  This  unfortunate  man,  maltreated 
by  every  one,  was  especially  tormented  by  Kulkhan's 
second  wife,  herself  once  a  Persian  slave,  who  was 
desirous  of  showing  how  zealous  a  convert  she  had 
become. 

Even  in  Gomushtepe  these  cruel  scenes  were  loath- 
some to  me :  judge,  then,  how  my  feelings  must  have 
revolted  when  I  learned  to  regard  the  last-named 
place  as  the  extreme  of  humanity  and  civilization ! 

*  When  I  afterward  drew  the  attention  of  the  Rassians  to  the 
occurrence,  they  labored  to  excuse  themselves,  saying  that  they 
did  not  desire  to  accustom  the  Turkomans  to  such  large  ran- 
soms, for  that,  with  any  encouragement,  these  bold  robbers 
would  devote  themselves  night  and  day  to  their  profitable  dep- 
redations. 


106  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VI. 

Tents  and  dwellers  therein  became  objects  of  loath- 
ing to  me. 

Still  no  news  came  of  the  arrival  of  the  kervan- 
bashi,  although  all  who  had  desired  to  join  our  car- 
avan were  already  assembled.  New  friends  were 
greeted  and  reciprocal  acquaintances  formed ;  and 
very  often  did  I  hear  the  question  mooted  as  to  the 
route  likely  to  be  selected  by  the  kervanbashi.  We 
were  eng-asfed  in  one  of  these  conversations,  when  one 
of  the  Etrekites  brought  us  the  cheering  intelligence 
that  the  Tekke,  whose  hostility  is  the  dread  of  the 
caravans  during  the  greatest  part  of  their  journey  to 
Khiva,  had  sent  a  peaceful  embassy  to  the  Yomuts, 
proposing,  at  length,  a  reconciliation,  and  an  attack 
with  combined  forces  upon  their  common  enemy,  the 
Persians. 

As  I  propose  to  touch  upon  this  political  transac- 
tion in  the  next  chapter,  suffice  it  here  to  say  that 
the  occurrence  was  incidentally  of  the  greatest  advan- 
tage to  us.  They  explained  to  me  that  there  were 
from  Etrek  to  Khiva  three  different  ways,  the  choice 
between  them  being  determined  by  considerations  as 
to  the  numbers  formins;  the  caravan. 

The  routes  are  as  follows : 

1.  The  first,  close  along  the  shore  of  the  Caspian, 
behind  the  greater  Balkan,  which  direction  it  follows 
for  a  two  days' journey  toward  the  north  from  these 
mountains,  and  then,  after  proceeding  ten  days,  the 
traveler  has  to  turn  to  the  east,  in  which  quarter 
Khiva  lies.  This  way  is  only  accessible  for  the 
smaller  caravans,  as  it  affords  but  little  water,  but 
presents  as  little  danger  from  attacks,  except  in  times 


Chap.  VI.  DIFFERENT  ROUTES  TO  KHIVA.  107 

of  extraordinary  revolutions,  when  the  Kasaks  (Kir- 
ghis)  or  the  Karakalpaks  send  hither  their  alaman. 

2.  The  middle  route,  which  follows  a  northerly 
direction  only  as  far  as  the  original  ancient  channel 
of  the  Oxus,  and  then,  passing  between  the  Great 
and  the  Little  Balkan,  turns  to  the  northeast  to- 
"sv^ard  Khiva. 

3.  The  third  is  the  straight  route  and  the  shortest ; 
for  while  Ave  require  twenty-four  days  for  the  first, 
and  twenty  for  the  second,  this  one  may  be  perform- 
ed in  fourteen.  Immediately  on  leaving  Etrek  one 
takes  a  northeasterly  direction,  through  the  Goklen 
and  Tekke  Turkomans.  At  every  station  wells  of 
sweet  drinkable  water  occur.  Of  course  a  caravan 
must  be  on  good  terms  with  the  tribes  above  named, 
and  must  count  from  two  to  three  thousand  men, 
otherwise  the  passage  is  impossible.  How  great, 
then,  was  my  joy,  when  one  evening  a  messenger 
from  Ata-bay  brought  us  the  intelligence  that  the 
kervanbashi  would  leave  his  encampment  early  the 
following  morning,  and  would  give  us  rendezvous  the 
day  after  at  noon,  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Etrek, 
whence  we  were  to  proceed  all  together  upon  our 
great  journey  through  the  desert !  Ilias  issued  or- 
ders for  us  all  to  complete  our  preparations  as  speed- 
ily as  possible.  We  therefore,  that  very  same  even- 
ing, got  our  bread  ready ;  we  once  more  salted  our 
large  pieces  of  camel-flesh,  which  we  had  received 
from  the  nomads  in  payment  for  the  benedictions 
we  had  lavished  on  them.  Who,  then,  was  happier 
than  I,  when  the  next  day  I  mounted  the  kedjeve 
with  Hadji  Bilal,  and  in  my  creaking  seat  slowly 


108  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VI. 

left  Etrek,  borne  forward  by  the  wave-like  pace  of 
the  camel? 

For  the  sake  of  security,  Kulkhan  was  pleased  to 
regard  it  as  necessary  to  give  us  his  escort  for  this 
day ;  for,  although  we  numbered  from  fifteen  to  twen- 
ty muskets,  it  was  yet  very  possible  that  we  might 
have  to  encounter  a  superior  force  of  robbers,  in 
which  case  the  presence  of  Kulkhan  might  prove  of 
the  most  important  service,  as  the  greater  part  of  the 
Etrek  bandits  were  under  his  spiritual  guidance,  and 
followed  his  orders  blindfold.  I  had  almost  forgot- 
ten to  mention  that  our  Kulkhan  was  renowned,  not 
only  as  the  graybeard  of  the  karaktchi,  but  also  as 
sofi  (ascetic),  a  title  he  bore  upon  his  seal:  of  the 
pious  appellation  he  was  not  a  little  proud.  I  had 
indeed  before  my  eyes  one  of  the  best-defined  pictures 
of  hypocrisy  when  I  saw  Kulkhan,  the  author  of  so 
many  cruelties,  sitting  there  among  his  spiritual  dis- 
ciples :  he  who  had  ruined  the  happiness  of  so  many 
families,  expounding  what  was  prescribed  respecting 
the  holy  purifications,  and  the  ordinances  directing 
the  close  cutting  of  the  mustache !  Teacher  and 
scholar  seemed  alike  inspired.  In  the  confident  as- 
surances of  their  own  piety,  how  many  of  these  rob- 
bers were  already  dreaming  of  their  sweet  rewards  in 
Paradise ! 

To  avoid  the  marshes  formed  by  the  overflowing; 
of  the  Etrek,  our  route  turned  now  to  the  northwest, 
now  to  the  northeast,  for  the  most  part  over  a  sandy 
district  on  which  very  few  tents  were  visible  ;  on  the 
edge  of  the  desert  we  observed  about  150  tents  of  the 
Turkoman  clan  Kem.     I  was  told  that  this  race  had 


Chap.  VI.  CROSS  THE  ETREK.  IO9 

time  out  of  mind,  separated  itself  from  the  Yomut 
Turkomans,  to  whom  they  properly  belonged,  and 
had  inhabited  the  edge  of  the  desert :  their  great  pro- 
pensity to  thieving  is  the  cause  why  all  the  other 
tribes  make  war  upon  them  and  treat  them  as  ene- 
mies, so  that  their  numbers  never  increase.  Near 
their  resorts  we  came  upon  many  stragglers  from  our 
caravan,  who  did  not  dare  to  pass  on  without  our 
company;  and,  according  to  all  appearances,  the 
Kemites  would  have  assailed  us  had  they  not  seen 
at  our  head  Kulkhan,  the  mighty  scarecrow. 

A  quarter  of  an  hour's  journey  from  their  encamp- 
ment farther  to  the  north,  we  crossed  a  little  arm  of 
the  Etrek,  whose  waters  had  already  begun  to  have 
a  very  salt  taste,  a  sign  that  its  bed  would  soon  be 
dry.  The  interval  between  its  farther  bank  and  a 
second  and  still  smaller  arm  of  the  same  river  is  al- 
ternately a  salt  bottom  and  a  fine  meadow,  thickly 
overgrown  with  monstrous  fennel,  which  took  us  a 
whole  hour  to  traverse.  This  deep  stream  was  like 
a  ditch,  and,  on  account  of  its  stiff  loamy  bank,  pre- 
sented considerable  impediments  to  our  progress; 
several  camels  fell  with  their  loads  into  the  water: 
it  was  shallow,  but  still  the  wetting  they  received 
rendered  the  packs  heavier,  and  added  greatly  to  our 
hibor  in  reaching  the  hill  on  the  opposite  side,  named 
Delili  Burun.  By  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  we 
had  only  advanced  four  miles  on  our  way,  notwith- 
standing our  early  start  in  the  morning;  neverthe- 
less, the  resolution  was  taken  to  make  a  halt  here, 
as  it  was  only  the  next  morning  at  midday  that  we 
were  to  meet  the  kervanbashi  on  the  other  side  of 
the  Etrek. 


110  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VI. 

The  hill  above  named,  which  is  but  a  sort  of  prom- 
ontory jutting  out  from  a  long  chain  of  inconsidera- 
ble hills  stretching  to  the  southeast,  affords  an  exten- 
sive and  fine  view.  To  the  west  Ave  discover  the 
Caspian  Sea  like  a  range  of  blue  clouds  ;  the  mount- 
ains of  Persia  are  also  distinguishable ;  but  the  great- 
est interest  attaches  to  the  mountain  plain  to  our 
south,  whose  limit  the  eye  can  not  discern,  on  which 
the  scattered  groups  of  tents  in  many  places  have  the 
appearance  of  mole-hills.  Almost  the  whole  of  Etrek, 
with  the  river  flowing  through  it,  lies  before  us,  and 
the  places  where  the  river  spreads  over  both  banks 
produce  upon  the  eye  the  effect  of  lakes.  As  we 
were  near  the  encampment  of  the  K.em,  we  were 
counseled  by  Kulkhan,  who  thought  proper  to  tarry 
with  us  this  one  more  night,  to  keep  a  sharp  look-out; 
and  evening  had  not  closed  in  before  we  posted  watch- 
es, which,  relieved  from  time  to  time,  observed  every 
movement  around  us. 

Understanding  that  this  station  formed  the  last 
outpost  toward  the  Great  Desert,  I  profited  by  the 
opportunity  which  the  return  of  our  escort  afforded, 
and  spent  the  afternoon  in  writing  letters  while  my 
companions  were  sleeping.  Besides  the  small  pieces 
of  paper  concealed  in  the  wool  of  my  Bokhariot  dress 
for  the  purpose  of  notes,  I  had  two  sheets  of  blank 
paper  in  the  Koran,  which  was  suspended  from  my 
neck  in  a  little  bag :  upon  these  I  wrote  two  letters, 
one  to  Haydar  Effendi,  addressed  to  Teheran,  and  the 
second  to  Khandjan,  requesting  him  to  forward  the 
former.* 
*  Upon  my  return  I  found  at  the  Turkish  embassy  this  letter, 


Chap.  VI.  MEETING  WITH  THE  KERVANBASHI.  m 

The  next  morning  a  four  hours'  march  brought  us 
to  the  banks  of  the  Etrek,  properly  so  called,  A 
ojood  deal  of  time  was  devoted  to  findino:  the  shallow- 
est  points  where  the  river  could  be  most  readily  ford- 
ed, a  task  by  no  means  easy;  for,  although  the  usual 
breadth  of  the  river  is  only  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
paces,  this  was  now  doubled  by  the  water  having 
overflowed  its  banks,  and  the  softened  loamy  ground 
caused  a  real  martyrdom  to  the  poor  camels,  so  that 
our  Turkomans  were  justified  in  their  long  hesita- 
tion. The  current,  indeed,  was  not  very  strong ;  still, 
the  water  came  up  to  the  bellies  of  the  camels ;  and 
the  uncertain,  wavering  steps  of  our  laboring,  wading 
animals  dipped  our  kedjeve  now  on  the  right  side, 
now  on  the  left,  into  the  troubled  waters  of  the  Etrek: 
one  false  step,  and  I  should  have  been  plunged  into 
mud  and  dirt,  and  at  no  small  risk  have  had  to  make 
my  way  by  swimming  to  the  opposite  bank.  Hap- 
pily, all  crossed  in  good  order ;  and  scarcely  had  we 
come  to  a  halt  when  the  anxiously-expected  caravan 
of  the  kervanbashi  came  in  sight,  having  in  its  van 
three  buffaloes  (two  cows  and  a  bull),  to  whose  health- 
promising  advent  the  sick  Lord  of  Khiva  could  hard- 
ly look  forward  with  greater  impatience  than  we  had 
done. 

The  reader  will  remember  that  Hadji  Bilal,  Yusuf, 
some  foot-travelers,  and  myself,  had  been  obliged  to 
separate  from  the  main  body  of  our  dervish  caravan 

acquainting  my  friends  with  my  being  about  to  commence  my 
journey  in  the  desert,  as  well  as  other  communications  which  I 
had  sent  on  from  Gomtishtepe.  My  good  friend  Khan dj an  had 
forwarded  them  with  the  greatest  zeal  and  exactitude. 


112  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VI. 

because  the  others  had  found  greater  difficulties  than 
myself  in  finding  camels  to  hire.  As  we  had  heard 
no  tidino:s  of  them  in  Etrek,  we  beojan  to  be  anxious 
lest  these  poor  people  might  have  no  opportunity  of 
following  us.  We  were,  therefore,  greatly  rejoiced 
to  see  them  all  coming  up  in  good  condition  in  the 
caravan  that  now  joined  us.  We  kissed  and  hugged 
one  another  with  the  heartiness  of  brethren  who 
meet  after  a  long  separation.  My  emotion  was  great 
when  I  once  more  saw  around  me  the  Hadji  Salih 
and  Sultan  Mahmoud,  and  all  the  others  too — yes, 
all  my  mendicant  companions ;  for,  although  I  re- 
garded Hadji  Bilal  as  my  dearest  friend,  I  was  com- 
pelled to  avow  to  myself  my  warm  attachment  to 
them  all,  without  distinction. 

As  the  Biver  Etrek  afibrded  us  the  last  opportu- 
nity of  sweet  water  until,  after  twenty  days' journey, 
we  should  refresh  ourselves  on  the  banks  of  the  Oxus, 
I  counseled  my  companions  not  to  let  the  opportuni- 
ty slip,  but  at  least,  this  last  time,  to  drink  our  fill  of 
tea.  We  therefore  brought  forward  the  tea-vessels,  I 
proffered  my  fresh-baked  bread,  and  long  afterward 
did  we  remember  the  luxury  and  abundance  of  this 
festival  held  in  honor  of  our  meeting. 

In  the  mean  time  also  arrived  the  kervanbashi 
who  was  to  be  our  leader  and  protector  in  the  desert. 
As  I  attached  great  importance  to  being  presented  to 
him  under  good  auspices,  I  went  among  the  others 
accompanied  by  Hadji  Salih  and  Messud,  who  had 
mentioned  me  to  him  on  the  way.  Let  the  reader 
then  picture  to  himself  my  wonder  and  alarm  when 
Amandurdi  (such  was  his  name),  a  corpulent  and 


Chap.  VI.  THE  AFGHAN  MAKES  MISCHIEF.  Hg 

good-tempered  Turkoman,  although  he  greeted  my 
friends  with  great  distinction,  received  me  with  strik- 
ing coldness ;  and  the  more  Hadji  Salih  was  disposed 
to  turn  the  conversation  upon  me,  the  more  indiffer- 
ent he  became:  he  confined  himself  to  saying,  "I 
know  this  hadji  already."  I  made  an  effort  not  to 
betray  my  embarrassment.  I  was  about  to  withdraw, 
when  I  noticed  the  angry  glances  that  Ilias,  who  was 
present,  darted  at  the  Emir  Mehemmed,  the  crazy 
opium-eater,  whom  he  thus  signalized  as  the  cause  of 
what  had  just  occurred. 

We  withdrew,  and  hardly  had  the  occurrence  been 
recounted  to  Hadji  Bilal  when  he  grew  angry  and 
exclaimed,  "  This  wretched  sot  of  an  Afghan  has  al- 
ready expressed  himself  in  Etrek  to  the  effect  that 
our  Hadji  Keshid,  who  was  able  to  give  him  instruc- 
tions in  the  Koran  and  in  Arabic,  was  only  a  Fren- 
ghi  in  disguise"  (thereupon  adding,  three  different 
times,  the  phrase  Estag  farullah!  "God  pardon  me 
my  sins");  "and  in  spite  of  my  assuring  him  that 
we  had  received  him  from  the  hands  of  the  embassa- 
dor of  our  great  sultan,  and  that  he  had  with  him  a 
pass  sealed  with  the  seal  of  the  khalife,*he  still  re- 
fuses to  believe,  and  persists  in  his  defamation.  As 
I  remark,  he  has  gained  the  ear  of  the  kervanbashi, 
but  he  shall  repent  it  on  our  arrival  in  Khiva,  where 
there  are  kadis  and  ulemas  ;  we  shall  teach  him  tliere 
what  the  consequence  is  of  representing  a  pious  Mus- 
sulman as  an  unbeliever." 

I  now  began  to  understand  the  whole  mystery. 

*  Follower  of  Mohammed,  that  is,  the  Sultan  of  Constautino- 
ple. 

H 


114  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VI. 

Emir  Mehemmed,  born  at  Kandahar,  had,  after  the 
occupation  of  his  native  city  by  the  English,  been 
compelled  to  fly  on  account  of  some  crime  he  had 
committed.  He  had  had  frequent  opportunities  of 
seeing  Europeans,  and  had  recognized  me  as  a  Euro- 
pean by  my  features.  Consequently,  from  the  very 
first  moment  he  regarded  me  as  a  secret  emissary 
traveling  with  hidden  treasures  under  my  mendicant 
disguise,  one  whom  he  might  succeed  in  plundering 
at  any  time  he  wished,  as  he  would  always  have  at 
his  service  a  formidable  menace,  namely,  "denuncia- 
tion." Often  had  he  counseled  me  to  separate  from 
those  mendicants  and  to  join  his  own  society ;  but  I 
never  omitted  replying  that  dervish  and  merchant 
were  elements  too  heterogeneous  to  offer  any  pros- 
pect of  a  suitable  partnership  ;  that  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  speak  of  sincere  friendship  until  he  had 
given  up  his  vicious  habit  of  opium-eating,  and  de- 
voted himself  to  pious  purifications  and  prayers. 
The  resolute  stand  I  took — and,  indeed,  I  had  no  oth- 
er course — made  him  furious ;  and  as  from  his  impi- 
ety he  was  the  object  of  the  hadjis'  aversion,  I  can 
only  regard  his  notorious  enmity  as  a  particular  in- 
stance of  good  fortune. 

About  two  hours  after  this  occurrence,  the  kervan- 
banshi,  who  now  assumed  the  command  over  the 
whole  caravan,  pointed  out  to  us  that  every  one 
ought  to  fill  his  water-skin  with  water,  as  we  should 
not  come  to  another  well  for  three  days.  I  there- 
fore took  my  goatskin  and  went  with  the  rest  to  the 
stream.  Never  having  hitherto  suffered  much  from 
the  torment  of  thirst,  I  was  filling  it  carelessly,  when 


Chap.  VI.  SEP AEATION  FROM  ESCORT.  II5 

my  colleagues  repaired  my  error  with  the  remark 
that  in  the  desert  every  drop  of  water  had  life  in  it, 
and  that  this  fount  of  existence  should  be  kept  by 
every  one  as  the  "apple  of  his  eye.""  The  prepara- 
tions completed,  the  camels  were  packed,  the  kervan- 
bashi  had  them  counted,  and  we  found  that  we  pos- 
sessed eighty  camels,  that  we  were  forty  travelers  in 
all,  among  whom  twenty-six  were  hadjis  without 
weapons,  and  the  rest  tolerably  armed  Turkomans  of 
the  tribe  Yomut,  with  one  Ozbeg  and  one  Afghan. 
Consequently,  we  formed  one  of  those  small  caravans 
that  set  out  on  their  way  in  right  Oriental  fashion, 
leaving  every  thing  to  fate. 

When  we  had  all  seated  ourselves,  we  had  still  to 
take  leave  of  our  Turkoman  escort,  who  had  led  us  to 
the  margin  of  the  desert.     The  fatiha  of  the  farewell 

CD 

was  intoned  on  the  one  side  by  Hadji  Bilal,  and  on 
the  other  by  Kulkhan. 

After  the  last  amen  had  been  said,  and  had  been 
followed  by  the  inseparable  stroking  of  the  beard, 
the  two  parties  divided  in  contrary  directions ;  and 
Avhen  our  late  escort  had  recrossed  the  Etrek  and 
lost  sight  of  us,  they  sent  a  few  shots  after  us  as  a 
farewell.  From  this  point  we  proceeded  in  a  straight 
direction  toward  the  north.  For  farther  information 
on  the  political  and  social  relations  of  the  Turko- 
mans, I  beg  to  refer  the  reader  to  the  Second  Part 
of  this  volume. 


116  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VII. 


CHAPTER  yil. 


KEKVANBASHI    INSISTS   THAT  THE  ADTHOR   SHOULD  TAKE  NO  NOTES. — EID  ME- 

HEMMEO    AND    HIS    BROTHER'S    NOBLE    CONDUCT. GUIDE    LOSES    HIS    WAY. 

KORENTAGHI,   ANCIENT    RUINS,  PROBABLY    GREEK. LITTLE     AND     GREAT 

BALKAN.  —  ANCIENT    BED    OF    THE    OXUS.  —  VENDETTA. —  SUFFERINGS    FROM 
THIRST. 


"  Citail  une  obscurity  vaste  comme  la  nier,  au  sein  de  laquelle  le  gtiide  x'egarait 
.  .  oup^rit  le  voyageur  effraye." — Victor  Hugo,  from  Oindiah  ben  Aiedz. 


Without  being  able  to  discover  the  slightest  trace 
of  a  path  indicated  by  foot  of  camel  or  hoof  of  other 
animal,  our  caravan  proceeded  toward  the  north,  di- 
recting its  course  in  the  day  by  the  sun,  and  at  night 
by  the  pole  star.  The  latter  is  called  by  the  Turko- 
mans, from  its  immovability,  temir  kazik  (the  iron 
peg).  The  camels  were  attached  to  one  another  in 
a  long  row,  and  led  by  a  man  on  foot ;  and  although 
there  was  no  positive  place  of  honor,  it  was  regarded 
as  a  certain  sort  of  distinction  to  be  placed  near  the 
kervanbashi.  The  districts  on  the  farther  side  of 
Etrek,  which  form  the  foreground  of  the  Great  Des- 
est,  are  indicated  by  the  name  of  Bogdayla.  We 
proceeded  for  two  hours  after  sunset  over  a  sandy 
bottom,  which  was  not,  however,  particularly  loose, 
and  which  presented  an  undulating,  wavy  surface,  in 
no  place  of  much  elevation.  By  degrees  the  sand 
disappeared,  and  about  midnight  we  had  so  firm  a 
clayey  soil  under  us,  that  the  regulated  tread  of  the 


Chap.  VII.        AUTHOR'S  APPEAEANCE  SUSPICIOUS.  117 

distant  camels  echoed  as^f  some  one  was  beating 
time  in  the  still  night.  The  Turkomans  name  such 
spots  takir ;  and  as  the  one  on  which  we  were  had 
a  reddish  color,  it  bore  the  name  kizil-takir.  We 
marched  uninterruptedly  till  it  was  nearly  dawn  of 
day;  altogether  we  had  hardly  advanced  six  miles, 
as  they  did  not  wish  at  the  outset  to  distress  the 
camels,  but  especially  because  the  greatest  person- 
ages in  our  company  of  travelers  were  unquestion- 
ably the  buffaloes,  of  which  one  was  in  an  interest- 
ing situation,  and  could  not,  with  her  unwieldy  body, 
keep  up  even  with  the  ordinary  step  of  the  camel ; 
consequently  there  was  a  halt  for  repose  until  eight 
o'clock  in  the  morning;  and  while  the  camels  were 
eating  their  fill  of  thistles  and  other  plants  of  the 
desert,  we  had  time  to  take  our  breakfast,  which  had 
not  yet  ceased  to  be  luxurious,  as  our  skins  were  still 
richly  stored  with  fresh  water,  and  so  our  heavy  un- 
leavened bread  slipped  down  aided  by  its  sweet 
draughts.  As  we  had  encamped  close  together,  I 
remarked  that  the  kervanbashi,  Ilias,  and  the  chiefs 
of  my  companions  were  conversing,  and,  as  they  did 
so,  kept  casting  glances  at  me.  It  was  easy  for  me 
to  divine  the  subject  of  their  conversation.  I  pre- 
tended, however,  to  pay  no  attention  ;  and  after  hav- 
ing for  some  time  fervently  turned  over  the  leaves 
of  the  Koran,  I  made  a  movement  as  if  I  had  pro- 
])osed  to  take  part  in  the  conversation.  When  I 
had  approached  a  few  steps,  I  was  met  by  honest 
Ilias  and  Hadji  Salih,  who  called  me  aside,  and  told 
me  that  the  kervanbashi  was  making  many  objec- 
tions to  my  joining  him  on  the  journey  to  Khiva, 


118  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VII. 

my  appearance  seeming  suspicious  to  him ;  and  he 
particularly  feared  the  anger  of  the  khan,  as  he  had 
some  years  before  conducted  a  Frenghi  envoy  to 
Khiva,  who,  in  that  single  journey,  took  off  a  faith- 
ful copy  of  the  whole  route,  and  with  his  diabolical 
art  had  not  forgotten  to  delineate  any  well  or  any 
hill  on  the  paper.  This  had  very  much  incensed  the 
khan ;  he  had  had  two  men  executed  who  had  be- 
trayed information,  and  the  kervanbashi  himself  had 
only  escaped  with  his  life  owing  to  the  intercession 
of  influential  persons.  "After  many  objections," 
said  my  friends,  "that  we  could  not  leave  thee  here 
behind  in  the  desert,  we  have  so  far  prevailed  with 
him  that  he  will  take  thee  with  him  on  the  condition 
that  thou  wilt,  first,  permit  thyself  to  be  searched 
to  see  if  thou  hast  any  drawings  or  wooden  pens 
(lead-pencils),  as  the  Frenghis  generally  have ;  and, 
secondly,  that  thou  promise  to  take  away  with  thee 
no  secret  notes  respecting  the  hills  and  routes,  for  in 
the  contrary  case  thou  must  remain  behind,  were  we 
even  in  the  midst  of  the  desert. " 

I  heard  all  with  the  greatest  patience,  and,  when 
they  had  finished,  I  played  the  part  of  one  very  an- 
gry, turned  round  to  Hadji  Salih,  and,  speaking  so 
loud  that  the  kervanbashi  could  not  fail  to  hear, 
said,  "Hadji,  thou  sawest  me  in  Teheran,  and  know- 
est  who  I  am ;  tell  Amandurdi  (the  name  of  the 
chief  of  our  caravan)  that  it  was  by  no  means  be- 
coming in  him,  as  an  honest  man,  to  lend  ear  to  a 
drunken  binamaz  (one  who  does  not  repeat  his  pray- 
ers) like  the  Afghan.  We  must  not  jest  with  relig- 
ion, and  he  shall  never  again  have  an  opportunity  to 


Chap.  VH.  AUTHOR'S  ARTIFICE.  119 

assail  one  in  so  dangerous  a  particular,  for  he  shall 
learn  in  Khiva  to  know  with  whom  he  has  to  deal." 
The  last  words,  uttered  with  great  violence,  so  as  to 
be  heard  through  the  whole  caravan,  caused  my  col- 
leagues, particularly  the  poorer  ones,  to  grow  very 
warm,  and,  had  I  not  restrained  them,  they  would 
have  assailed  Emir  Mehemmed,  the  malicious  Af- 
ghan. The  person  most  surprised  by  this  zeal  of 
theirs  was  the  kervanbashi  himself;  and  I  heard 
how  he  always  contrived  to  repeat,  in  answer  to  the 
very  different  representations  that  were  made  to  him, 
the  same  words,  "Khudaim  bilir!'*'  (God  knows!) 
He  was  an  extremely  honest,  good-humored  man,  an 
Oriental  however,  disposed,  not  so  much  out  of  mal- 
ice as  fondness  for  mysteries,  to  discover  in  me,  any 
how  and  at  all  events,  a  stranger  in  disguise ;  and 
this,  although  he  allowed  himself  on  the  one  side  to 
receive  instruction  from  me  in  many  a  point  of  re- 
ligion, and  in  Gomiishtepe  had  heard  that  I  was  ac- 
quainted with  many  books.  My  artful  manoeuvre 
had,  as  I  have  said,  diminished  my  danger;  but  I 
still  saw,  to  my  great  regret,  that  the  injurious  sus- 
picion increased  with  every  step,  and  that  I  should 
have  the  greatest  difficulty  in  taking  even  the  short- 
est notes  of  my  journey.  I  was  very  much  annoyed 
at  not  daring  to  put  any  questions  as  to  the  names 
of  the  different  stations ;  for,  however  immense  the 
desert,  the  nomads  inhabiting  the  various  oases  have 
affixed  a  specific  designation  to  every  place,  every 
hill,  and  every  valley,  so  that,  if  exactly  informed,  I 
might  have  marked  each  place  on  the  map  of  Cen- 
tral Asia.     Cunning  has   to  be   employed  against 


120  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VII. 

cunning,  and  the  scanty  notices  Avhich  I  have  been 
able  to  collect  respecting  the  route  is  the  fruit  of 
an  artifice  with  Avhich  I  will  not  weary  the  reader. 
What  bitter  disappointment,  what  annoyance  must 
not  the  traveler  feel  who,  after  having  through  long 
struggles  and  great  perils  reached  at  length  the  foun- 
tain he  longs  for,  can  not  even  then  slake  his  thirst ! 
After  the  lapse  of  eight  hours  we  again  set  out ; 
but  our  march,  after  having  proceeded  without  inter- 
ruption for  two  hours,  gradually  slackened.  Some  of 
the  Turkomans  dismounted,  and  occupied  themselves 
busily  to  the  right  and  to  the  left  in  carefully  exam- 
ining the  smaller  hills.  As  I  learned  afterward,  one 
of  our  traveling  companions,  Eid  Mehemmed,  was 
desirous  of  discovering  the  tomb  of  his  brother,  who 
had  fallen  here  in  a  combat  the  previous  year.  He 
had  also  brought  a  coffin  with  him  to  transport  the 
corpse  to  Khiva.  It  may  have  been  about  two  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  when  we  stopped.  They  found  the 
grave,  and  applied  themselves  to  the  task  of  opening 
it.  After  having  laid  the  half- putrid  body  in  the 
coffin  and  packed  it  in  felt,  accompanying  the  opera- 
tion with  recitations  of  the  usual  prayers  and  cita- 
tions from  the  Koran,  in  which  I  also  had  to  take 
my  part,  we  were  treated  with  the  details  of  the  com- 
bat by  an  eye-witness.  The  intention  of  this  man 
was  to  do  honor  to  the  departed,  for  praise  such  as 
he  bestowed  none  but  the  noblest  of  men  could  de- 
serve. "We  had  in  our  caravan,"  said  the  speaker, 
"several  Persians,  journeying  from  Khiva  to  Astra- 
bad,  and  among  them  there  was  a  very  wealthy  mer- 
chant, named  Mollah  Kaszim,  from  the  city  last 


Chap.  VII.  EID  MEHEMMED'S  TALE.  121 

named.  He  had  for  years  been  engaged  in  the  traf- 
fic carried  on  between  Persia  and  Khiva,  and,  having 
constant  occasion  to  visit  the  latter  country,  was  the 
guest  of  the  deceased,  and  consequently  under  the 
safeguard  of  his  hospitality,  both  in  Khiva  and  in 
the  desert.  It  so  happened  that  last  year  he  was 
returning  home  with  a  large  sum  of  money,  and  al- 
though dressed  as  a  Turkoman,  and  perfectly  familiar 
with  our  language,  his  presence  among  us  was  detect- 
ed by  the  haramzadeh  (bastards)  of  Etrek.  They 
hastened  to  meet  and  assail  us.  In  number  they 
were  suj^erior,  but  in  spite  of  that  we  maintained  a 
combat  that  lasted  eight  hours.  After  we  had  killed 
two  of  their  number,  they  called  to  us  to  surrender 
the  fat  Persian  dog,  thereby  meaning  Mollah  Kaszim, 
and  that  the  fight  would  be  at  an  end,  for  that  they 
Avanted  nothing  from  us.  That  no  one  of  us,  still  less 
the  departed  one,  was  disposed  to  consent  to  this,  may 
readily  be  imagined ;  and  although  the  Persian  him- 
self, who  feared  the  balls  hissing  about  in  all  direc- 
tions, begged  that  the  fighting  might  be  put  an  end 
to,  and  was  desirous  of  surrendering  himself  as  a  pris- 
oner, the  battle  had  to  be  fought  out.  Soon  after- 
ward he'  (and he  pointed  to  the  corpse)  "was  pierced 
by  a  bullet.  He  fell  from  his  horse,  and  the  few 
words  that  he  was  able  to  utter  were  to  the  effect 
that  he  commended  his  guest,  the  Persian,  who  was 
sobbing  all  the  time  like  a  child  with  terror,  to  his 
brother  Eid  Mehemmed.  Under  the  leadership  of 
the  latter  we  continued  the  contest  till  the  morning, 
when  the  robbers  retreated,  with  loss.  After  having 
buried  the  deceased  here,  we  traveled  on,  and  three 


122  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VD. 

days  afterward  the  Persian  was  conducted  to  Astra- 
bad." 

In  commemoration  of  the  sad  event,  Eid  Mehem- 
med  had  bread  baked  here  also,  which  he  shared 
among  us.  We  then  started,  keej^ing  to  the  north, 
and  proceeding  through  a  great '  sterile  plain.  To 
make  up  for  our  loss  of  time,  we  were  obliged  to 
journey  the  whole  night  without  interruption.  The 
weather  was  lovely,  and,  cowering  in  my  basket,  I 
long  amused  myself  with  the  beautiful  starry  heav- 
ens, more  beautiful  and  more  sublime  in  the  desert 
than  any  where  else.  I  was  at  last  overcome  by 
sleep.  Perhaps  I  had  scarcely  reposed  an  hour, 
when  I  was  harshly  roused  from  my  slumber,  and 
heard  on  all  sides  the  cry,  "Hadji,  look  to  thy  kible- 
numa  (compass)  ;  we  seem  to  have  lost  our  way."  I 
awoke,  and  saw  by  the  light  of  a  piece  of  burning 
tinder  that  we  were  going  in  an  easterly  direction 
instead  of  a  northerly.  The  kervanbashi,  alarmed, 
fearing  our  vicinity  to  the  dangerous  marshes,  issued 
the  command  that  we  should  not  stir  from  the  spot 
till  the  dawn  of  day.  Luckily,  we  had  only  swerved 
from  the  right  course  about  half  an  hour  previously, 
at  a  moment  when  the  sky  was  overcast.  In  despite 
of  the  delay  we  reached  the  appointed  station,  and 
our  wearied  beasts  were  let  loose  to  make  their  meal 
upon  the  thorns  and  thistles.  In  the  spot  where  we 
were  encamped  I  saw  with  astonishment  that  my 
companions  collected  a  great  number  of  carrots,  half 
a  foot  long,  of  the  thickness  of  the  thumb,  and  par- 
ticularly well-flavored  and  sweet.  The  inner  part, 
however,  was  as  hard  as  wood,  and  was  uneatable. 


Chap.  VII.       CRUEL  MODE  OF  FASTENING  CAMELS.  123 

as  was  also  the  wild  garlic,  which  we  found  here  in 
large  quantities.  I  seized  the  opportunity  of  giving 
myself  a  feast,  boiling  a  good  portion  of  carrots  for 
my  breakfast,  and  storing  away  a  quantity  in  my 
girdle. 

To-day  (May  15)  our  way  passed  through  a  wild 
district  cut  up  with  ditches.  I  heard  it  said  that 
each  journey  it  assumes  a  diflferent  form,  and  presents 
different  difficulties  from  the  numerous  steep  places. 

The  poor  camels,  some  of  them  laden  with  very 
heavy  burdens,  suffered  exceedingly,  the  dry  sand  giv- 
ing way  under  their  feet ;  so  that,  having  continually 
to  mount  and  descend,  they  could  hardly  get  a  firm 
footing.  It  is  remarkable  that  it  is  the  custom  here 
to  fasten  their  animals  with  a  cord,  one  end  of  which 
is  attached  to  the  tail  of  the  creature  that  precedes, 
the  other  to  the  perforated  nose  of  the  one  that  fol- 
lows ;  and  it  is  very  painful  to  see  how,  as  they  are 
all  so  bound  together,  if  one  of  the  beasts  in  the  line 
stands  still  a  moment,  the  line  in  front  continues  to 
move  on  till  the  cord  is  torn  away  from  the  animal 
behind,  who  suffers  thereby  dreadful  torture.  To 
spare  the  poor  animals,  we  all  dismounted  where  the 
route  was  bad,  as  to-day;  and  although  my  suffer- 
ings were  great  in  the  deep  sand,  I  was  forced  to 
walk  on  foot  four  hours,  although  slowly,  still  with- 
out a  halt.  Plodding  on  thus,  I  several  times  came 
in  contact  with  the  kervanbashi,  who,  after  my  last 
spirited  conduct,  loaded  me  with  politeness ;  his 
nephew,  a  young,  frank-hearted  Turkoman  from  Khi- 
va, seemed  to  be  particularly  fond  of  my  society. 
He  had  not  seen  his  young  wife  since  the  year  be- 


124  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VII. 

fore,  and  his  conversation  always  turned  upon  his 
ova  (tent),  as  the  rules  of  Islamite  politeness  obliged 
him  to  name  the  object  of  his  affections.*  Khali 
Mollah  (that  was  his  name)  reposed  the  fullest  con- 
fidence in  my  character  as  a  dervish.  I  was  very 
much  surprised  when  he  requested  me  to  search  in 
my  Koran  a  fal  or  prognostic  regarding  his  family. 
I  made  the  usual  hocus  pocus,  shut  my  eyes,  and  for- 
tunately opened  the  book  at  a  place  where  women 
are  spoken  of  (for  the  passages  mumenin  and  mume- 
nat  frequently  recur),  in  which  my  explanation  of  the 
Arabian  text — for  here  is  the  whole  art — enchanted 
the  young  Turkoman.  He  thanked  me,  and  I  was 
delighted  to  find  that  I  had  won  his  friendship. 

Up  to  the  present  moment  it  was  not  clear  which 
of  the  three  ways  the  caravan  would  follow.  The 
concealment  of  plan  is  in  this  country  especially  nec- 
essary, as  one  is  never  a  single  moment  safe  from 
surprise  ;  and  although  nothing  was  said,  it  was  still 
plain  to  all  that  the  middle  way  would  be  chosen,  for 
our  water  supply  was  running  short,  and  necessity 
would  force  us,  on  the  morrow  at  latest,  to  make  for 
a  well,  which  is  only  accessible  provided  peaceable 
relations  permit  the  Yomut  shepherd  to  penetrate 
thither  from  Ataboz.     Our  evening  march  was  a 

*  According  to  the  precepts  of  Islam,  it  is  very  unbecoming  to 
speak  of  one's  wife ;  metaphors  are  used  to  express  the  idea, 
where  the  whole  is  taken  to  designate  the  part  [totum  pro  parte). 
Accordingly,  the  Turk  in  society  names  his  wife  hvixem,  familia 
— tcholuk  tschodjuck ;  the  Persian  terms  her  khane  or  ayal  il 
avlad,  the  former  expression  meaning  house,  the  latter  wife's 
child ;  the  Turkoman,  ova ;  the  Central  Asiatic,  Lalachaka,  mean- 
ins:  children. 


Chap.  VII.  KORENTAGIII.  125 

successful  one ;  the  camel-chain  was  not  often  rent 
asunder,  or  if  any  such  accident  occurred  it  was  ob- 
served before  the  lapse  of  many  minutes,  and  men 
were  sent  back  to  look  up  the  missing  animals.  The 
caravan  continued  its  march ;  and  in  order  that  the 
individual  sent  out  in  the  dark  night  might  not  lose 
his  way,  one  of  the  followers  of  the  caravan  had  the 
particular  duty  assigned  to  him  of  holding  with  the 
other  a  dialogue  at  a  distance,  so  that  the  words, 
which  echoed  sadly  in  the  gloomy  night,  served  as  a 
guide ;  and  yet  woe  to  the  wretch  in  case  a  contrary 
wind  renders  the  sound  inaudible ! 

The  next  morning  (May  16)  we  discovered,  in  a 
northeasterly  direction,  the  mountainous  chain  called 
the  Korentaghi.  The  buffalo-cow,  near  her  time,  com- 
pelled us  all  to  adopt  a  slow  pace,  and  it  was  after- 
noon before  we  approached  close  enough  to  be  able 
to  distinguish  the  outline  of  the  lower  part  of  the 
mountain.  When  in  Etrek,  we  had  heard  that  this 
was  the  spot  where,  on  account  of  the  prevailing  sen- 
timents in  favor  of  peace,  we  should  meet  Yomuts ; 
still  they  were  not  perfectly  assured,  and  the  greatest 
anxiety  existed  to  know  whether  the  news  of  a  peace 
would  be  confirmed,  or  whether,  in  case  the  mount- 
ains were  abandoned,  we  might  not  be  surprised  by 
some  hostile  horde.  A  courag-eous  Turkoman  was 
sent  on  to  ascertain  how  matters  stood,  and  his  prog- 
ress was  watched  by  all  with  anxious  eyes.  Fortu- 
nately, as  we  approached,  the  difierent  tents  were  dis- 
tinguished, the  alarm  was  dissipated,  and  the  only  de- 
sire was  to  learn  to  what  tribe  the  encampment  be- 
longed.    While  my  fellow -travelers  amused  them- 


126  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VII. 

selves  with  the  view  of  the  Korentaghi  and  its  green 
valleys,  my  heart  beat  within  me  for  joy,  as  I  believed 
that  I  was  approaching  ruins,  probably  of  Greek  or- 
igin, which  extended  in  a  westerly  direction  from  the 
above-named  mountain.  At  the  moment  when  the 
latter  became  visible,  I  had  remarked  to  the  south- 
west a  single  pillar,  which  from  the  distance  pro- 
duced upon  the  eye  the  effect  of  an  animated  colossal 
figure.  As  we  mounted  the  plateau  higher  and  high- 
er, I  discerned,  in  the  same  direction,  a  second  col- 
umn, somewhat  thicker  than  the  former,  but  not  so 
elevated,  and  now  close  to  the  mountain.  I  had  the 
ruins,  known  as  the  Meshedi  Misriyan,  so  near  to  me 
on  the  left  that  I  was  able  even  to  distinguish  the 
particular  parts  with  precision.  As  none  but  Yo- 
muts  were  encamped  here,  it  was  resolved  to  make  it 
a  rest-day,  and  to  employ  it  for  the  purchase  of  some 
camels.  This  accorded  fully  with  my  own  wish,  as 
it  afforded  me  the  opportunity  of  beholding  the  ruins 
from  a  closer  proximity. 

The  next  morning  (May  17)  I  started,  accompa- 
nied by  Ilias  and  some  of  the  pilgrims.  I  was  obliged 
to  use  many  pretexts  to  induce  the  latter  to  visit  a 
spot  which  they  would  have  preferred  avoiding  as 
the  abode  of  djins  (genii).  It  was  distant  about  half 
a  league  from  our  encampment,  although  the  high 
walls  of  the  square  building,  as  well  as  the  two  en- 
tire and  the  two  half-ruined  towers  in  form  of  domes, 
seemed  to  be  nearer  to  us.  Around  these,  and  en- 
circling the  high  wall,  from  six  to  eight  feet  broad 
and  from  forty  to  fifty  high,  there  is  a  lower  one,  on 
the  south  side,  quite  in  ruins,  which  must  have  served 


Chap.  VII.  ANCIENT  RUINS.  127 

as  an  outwork  to  the  fort,  still  erect ;  I  regard  the 
entire  construction,  as  it  rises  among  the  other  heaps 
of  dilapidation,  as.  a  fortress  of  ancient  date;  and  I 
think,  to  complete  its  system  of  defense,  its  builders 
must  have  formed  the  aqueduct,  which  runs  in  a 
southwesterly  direction  as  far  as  the  Persian  chain 
of  mountains,  whence  it  brought  hither  to  the  for- 
tress water,  for  drinking  purposes,  a  distance  of  150 
English  miles. 

My  acquaintance  with  archaeology  and  architecture 
being  limited,  I  admit  my  incompetency  to  form  any 
precise  judgment  respecting  ruins,  certainly  of  high 
interest,  except  that  I  believe  myself  justified  in  af- 
firming them  to  be  of  Greek  origin,  because  I  have 
found  the  square  bricks  which  compose  them  to  re- 
semble exactly,  in  quality,  size,  and  color,  those  of 
Gomiishtepe,  and  the  kizil  alan  (Alexander's  wall).* 

Besides  these,  I  remarked  a  group  of  other  ruins 
on  the  north  summit  of  the  Korentaghi.  We  passed 
them  by  night,  and,  as  far  as  I  could  distinguish  in 
the  obscurity,  there  are  six  separate  dome-like  chap- 
els still  standing. 

To-day  our  caravan  was  visited  by  crowds  of  the 
nomads  dwelling  on  the  spot.  Some  business  was 
transacted,  and  bargains   struck  between  the  mer- 

*  The  Turkomans  recounted,  with  respect  to  the  ruins,  that 
God,  from  especial  love  to  the  brave  Turkomans,  had  placed  the 
Kaaba  first  here  instead  of  transporting  it  to  Arabia,  but  that 
a  green  devil,  who  was  at  the  same  time  lame,  named  Gukleng 
(green  hobbler),  from  whom  the  Goklens  were  descended,  had 
destroyed  it.  "  The  insolent  act  of  their  ancestor  is  the  reason," 
added  the  savage  etymologist, "  why  we  Hve  in  hostility  with 
that  tribe." 


128  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VII. 

chants  and  cattle-dealers  of  our  caravan,  and  upon 
credit,  too.  They  applied  to  me  to  draw  up  in  writ- 
ing their  checks.  I  was  surprised  to  find  that  the 
debtor,  instead  of  handing  over  his  signature  to  tran- 
quillize his  creditor,  put  it  into  his  own  pocket ;  and 
this  was  the  Turkoman  way  of  arranging  the  whole 
business.  When  I  questioned  the  creditor  as  to  this 
remarkable  manner  of  procedure,  his  answer  was, 
"What  have  I  to  do  with  the  writing?  The  debtor 
must  keep  it  by  him  as  a  reminder  of  his  debt." 

In  the  evening,  when  we  were  ready  to  start,  an 
event  took  place,  for  Madame  Buffalo  did  us  the 
honor  of  increasing  our  number  by  the  addition  of 
a  healthy  little  calf,  a  subject  of  supreme  delight  to 
the  kervanbashi ;  and  not  until  we  were  actually  on 
the  route  did  it  occur  to  him  that  the  poor  little  calf 
was  not  strong  enough  to  accompany  our  march  on 
foot,  and  that  he  must  search  for  a  more  commodious 
place  for  it  on  one  of  the  camels.  As  the  only  ked- 
jeve  was  the  one  occupied  by  Hadji  Bilal  and  my- 
self, all  eyes  were  directed  to  us.  We  were  asked  to 
cede  our  place  to  the  new-born  calf.  My  friend  was 
cunning  enough  at  once  to  evince  his  readiness  to  be 
of  service,  with  the  observation  that  he  would,  out  of 
friendship  to  me,  whose  lameness  rendered  me  less 
easy  to  accommodate  with  a  seat,  vacate  his  own,  and 
content  himself  with  any  exchange.  Hardly  had  he 
surrendered  his  place  to  the  young  calf,  than  the  ex- 
tremely disagreeable  smell  of  my  new  vis-d-vis  betray- 
ed to  me  the  real  motive  of  my  friend.  By  night  it 
was  endurable,  as  my  slumbers  were  only  disturbed 
by  the  frequent  bleating  of  the  calf;   but  in  the  day- 


Chap.  VII.        KAK.— REGULAKITY  OF  THE  MARCH.  129 

time,  particularly  when  the  heat  was  very  great,  my 
situation  became  intolerable.  Hajipily,  my  torments 
did  not  last  long,  for  the  calf  succumbed  the  second 
day  of  its  ride  through  the  desert. 

From  this  day  (May  18)  we  reckoned  two  days  to 
the  Great  Balkan,  and  thence  twelve  days  to  Khiva 
(altogether  fourteen  days).  During  the  whole  time 
we  should  come  to  only  four  wells  of  bitter  salt  wa- 
ter, and  should  not  encounter  a  single  living  human 
being. 

As  we  were  still  in  the  middle  of  May,  our  leader 
hoped  to  find  in  the  lone  places  some  rain-water 
(called  kak).  We  had  filled  our  skins  with  dirty 
Avater  from  the  miserable  cistern  at  Korentaghi.  The 
jolting  on  the  backs  of  the  camels  had  changed  it  into 
something  very  like  mud,  having  a  most  nauseous 
taste,  and  yet  we  were  obliged  to  make  a  very  sparing 
use  of  it,  for  there  was  no  hope  of  finding  kak  until 
we  reached  a  station  on  the  other  side  of  the  Great 
Balkan. 

Our  march,  as  we  were  now  every  day  more  inured 
to  its  hardships,  began  to  assume  great  regularity. 
We  made  usually  every  day  three  halts,  each  of  an 
hour  and  a  half  or  two  hours :  the  first  before  sun- 
rise, when  we  made  our  bread  for  the  whole  day;  the 
second  at  noon,  to  give  man  and  beast  the  indulgence 
of  a  little  repose  from  the  scorching  heat;  and  the 
third  before  sunset,  to  devour  our  scanty  supper,  con- 
sisting of  the  oft-mentioned  bread  and  water,  every 
drop  of  which  we  had  to  count.  My  friends,  as  well 
as  the  Turkomans,  had  with  them  supplies  of  sheep- 
fat.     This  they  ate  with  their  bread,  and  oftered  to 

I 


130  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VH. 

me,  but  I  was  careful  not  to  partake  of  it,  from  the 
conviction  that  nothing  but  the  greatest  moderation 
could  diminish  the  torments  of  thirst,  and  harden  one 
to  endure  fatigue.  The  district  we  were  now  trav- 
ersing consisted  of  a  firm  clay  bottom,  only  producing 
here  and  there  a  few  wretched  plants,  and  forming, 
for  the  most  part,  barren  ground,  in  which  crevices, 
like  veins,  extended  beyond  the  reach  of  the  eye,  and 
offered  the  most  variegated  picture.  And  yet  how  this 
eternal  sadness  of  plain,  from  which  every  trace  of 
life  is  banished,  wearies  the  traveler;  and  what  an 
agreeable  change  he  finds  when,  arriving  at  the  sta- 
tion, he  is  permitted  to  rest  a  few  minutes  from  the 
wave-like  movements  of  the  camel ! 

The  next  morning  (May  19)  we  discovered  some- 
thing like  a  dark  blue  cloud  toward  the  north.  It 
was  the  Little  Balkan,  which  we  were  to  reach  the 
next  day,  of  the  height,  beauty,  and  mineral  wealth 
of  which  the  Turkomans  gave  me  such  long  accounts. 
Unfortunately,  this  very  night,  our  generally  so  wake- 
ful kervanbashi  was  overtaken  with  sleep,  and  the 
guide  at  the  head  of  the  line  of  camels  brought  us 
into  a  position  of  such  jeopardy  that  it  nearly  cost 
us  all  our  lives.  For  it  is  necessary  to  mention  that 
at  the  foot  of  the  Little  Balkan  there  are  many  of 
those  dangerous  salt  morasses,  covered  with  a  thick 
white  crust,  which  are  not  distinguishable  from  the 
firm  ground  in  their  vicinity,  as  all  is  covered  in  the 
same  proportion  with  layers  of  salt  of  the  thickness 
of  a  finger.  We  had  advanced  in  that  direction  un- 
til the  camels,  by  their  footing  giving  way  under 
them,  in  spite  of  all  encouragement,  were  brought  to 


Chap.  VII.     A  SALT  MORASS.— THE  LITTLE  BALKAN.  131 

a  stand-still.  We  sprang  down,  and  judge  of  my  alarm 
when  I  felt,  although  standing  upon  the  earth,  as  if 
I  were  in  a  moving  boat.  The  consternation  Avas 
general.  The  kervanbashi  shouted  out  that  every 
one  should  stop  Avhere  he  was,  for  it  was  idle  to  think 
of  extricating  ourselves  until  daybreak.  The  strong 
smell  of  soda  was  insupportable  ;  and  we  were  forced 
to  wait  three  hours,  till  the  first  beams  of  the  "auro- 
ra liberatrix"  should  shine  forth.  The  movement  in 
the  backward  direction  was  attended  with  many  dif- 
ficulties ;  but  we  were  all  glad,  for  Heaven  had  been 
gracious  to  us,  as,  had  we  only  advanced  a  little  far- 
ther, we  might  have  reached  a  place  where  the  earth 
had  no  consistence,  and  might  have  swallowed  up  a 
part  or  perhaps  the  whole  caravan.  Such,  at  all 
events,  was  the  expressed  opinion  of  the  Turkomans. 

It  was  ten  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  20th  of 
May  when  we  reached  the  Little  Balkan.  It  stretch- 
ed fi:'om  the  southwest  to  the  northeast.  We  discov- 
ered also  the  feebly-defined  promontory  belonging  to 
the  Great  Balkan,  running  parallel  with  the  former 
range.  The  Little  Balkan,  at  the  foot  of  which  we 
encamped,  forms  an  almost  uninterrupted  chain  of 
mountains,  of  equal  elevation,  for  a  distance  of  about 
twelve  miles.  It  is  not  perhaps  so  barren  and  naked 
as  those  in  Persia:  it  yields  grass  in  some  places, 
and  in  the  rest  has  a  bluish-green  color.  Its  height, 
measured  by  the  eye,  seems  about  3000  feet. 

Our  route  this  day  and  the  next  morning  (May  21) 
continued  to  pass  along  its  side ;  about  evening  we 
reached  the  foot  of  the  promontory  of  the  Great  Bal- 
kan.    Although  I  could  only  see  a  part  of  this  close, 


132  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VII. 

I  yet  perceived  the  propriety  of  the  appellation  that 
distinguished  it ;  for  on  an  average,  as  far  as  the  eye 
can  reach,  it  has  greater  circumference  and  greater 
height.  We  found  ourselves  on  a  branch  stretching 
in  an  easterly  direction.  The  Great  Balkan,  proper- 
ly so  called,  runs  toward  the  shore  of  the  Caspian, 
having  nearly  a  northeasterly  direction.  According 
to  what  I  heard  in  Khiva  and  among  the  Turkomans, 
it  must  be  rich  in  precious  minerals ;  but  the  fact  can 
not  be  relied  upon  without  the  opinion  of  competent 
judges. 

Taken  altogether,  the  spot  where  we  encamped 
this  evening  was  not  without  its  charms ;  for,  as  the 
setting  sun  projected  its  rays  upon  the  lonely  valleys 
of  the  Little  Balkan,  one  could  almost  fancy  one's 
self  actually  in  a  mountainous  district.  The  view 
might  even  be  characterized  as  beautiful ;  but  then 
the  idea  of  a  fearful  desolation,  the  immense  aban- 
donment, wliich  covers  the  whole,  as  it  were,  with  a 
veil  of  mourning !  We  turn  fearfully  to  see  wheth- 
er the  next  moment  our  eye  may  not  encounter  some 
strange  human  face  that  will  oblige  us  to  grasp  our 
weapon,  for  every  human  being  encountered  in  the 
desert  must  be  met  with  ready  arms. 

An  hour  after  sunset  the  start  was  determined 
upon.  The  kervanbashi  pointed  out  to  us  that  from 
this  point  the  true  desert  began ;  that,  although  we 
had  all  the  appearance  of  being  experienced  travel- 
ers, still  he  considered  it  not  unprofitable  to  remark 
that,  as  far  as  possible,  we  should  avoid  speaking 
loudly,  or  uttering  any  cry  by  day  or  night;  and 
that  henceforth  we  should  each  bake  his  bread  before 


Chap.  VII.  TAKE  THE  MIDDLE  ROUTE.  133 

sunset,  as  no  one  here  ought  to  light  a  fire  by  night 
for  fear  of  betraying  his  position  to  an  enemy ;  and 
finally  that  we  should,  in  our  j^rayers,  constantly  im- 
plore Aniandjilik  for  security,  and  in  the  hour  of 
danger  we  should  not  behave  like  women. 

Some  swords,  a  lance,  and  two  guns  were  divided 
among  us ;  and  as  I  was  regarded  as  one  having 
most  heart,  I  received  fire-arms  and  a  tolerable  pro- 
vision of  powder  and  ball.  I  must  openly  avow  that 
all  these  preparations  did  not  seem  to  me  calculated 
to  inspire  much  confidence. 

After  leaving  the  Balkan  my  compass  permitted 
me  no  longer  to  doubt,  in  spite  of  all  attempts  at 
concealment,  our  having  taken  the  middle  route.  In 
Korentaghi  we  had  received  intelligence  that  fifty 
karaktchi,  of  the  tribe  ofTekke,  were  prowling  about 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  mountains ;  but  the  kervan- 
bashi  seemed  only  so  far  influenced  by  the  informa- 
tion as  to  give  a  wide  berth  to  the  wells  and  station 
called  Djenak  kuyusu,  the  water  of  which  is  besides 
very  salt,  so  that  no  camel  would  touch  it  unless  it 
had  been  without  water  for  three  days.  It  may 
have  been  about  midnight — we  had  gone  about  two 
miles,  and  had  reached  a  steep  declivity — when  the 
word  was  given  that  we  should  all  dismount,  for  we 
were  in  the  Doden  (as  the  nomads  of  the  district 
name  the  ancient  bed  of  the  Oxus),  and  the  storms 
and  the  rains  of  the  last  winter  had  now  'entirely 
washed  away  all  traces  of  the  route,  which  had  been 
tolerably  well  defined  the  year  before.  We  cut  across 
the  ancient  channel  of  the  river  in  a  crooked  line,  in 
order  to  find  a  way  out  on  to  the  opposite  bank,  the 


134  TRAVELS  m  CENTRAL  ASL^.  Chap.  VU. 

steeper  one ;  it  was  not  till  break  of  day  that  we 
contrived,  with  great  fatigue,  to  reach  the  high  pla- 
teau. The  nomads  in  their  fables  seek  to  connect 
the  ancient  bed  of  the  Oxus  with  the  ruins  of  Mesh- 
edi  Misriyan,  and  declare  that  the  Oxus  formerly 
floAved  near  the  walls  of  the  edifice  designed  for  the 
Kaaba,  and  that,  at  a  later  period,  incensed  at  the 
sins  of  the  Goklens,  the  .river  turned  to  the  north. 

The  more  the  Balkan  disappeared  in  the  blue 
clouds  in  our  rear,  the  greater  and  more  awful  be- 
came the  majesty  of  the  boundless  desert.  I  had  be- 
fore been  of  opinion  that  the  desert  can  only  impress 
the  mind  with  an  idea  of  sublimity  where  both  fancy 
and  enthusiasm  concur  to  give  coloring  and  definite- 
ness  to  the  picture.  But  I  was  wrong.  I  have  seen 
in  the  lowlands  of  my  own  beloved  country  a  minia- 
ture picture  of  the  desert ;  a  sketch  of  it,  too,  on  a 
larger  scale,  later,  when  I  traversed,  in  Persia,  a  part 
of  the  salt  desert  (Deschti  Kuvir) ;  but  how  different 
the  feelings  which  I  here  experienced !  No,  it  is  not 
the  imagination,  as  men  falsely  suppose ;  it  is  nature 
itself  that  lights  the  torch  of  inspiration.  I  often 
tried  to  brighten  the  dark  hues  of  the  wilderness  by 
picturing,  in  its  immediate  vicinity,  cities  and  stir- 
ring life,  but  in  vain  ;  the  interminable  hills  of  sand, 
the  dreadful  stillness  of  death,  the  yellowish-red  hue 
of  the  sun  at  rising  and  setting — yes,  every  thing 
tells  us  that  we  are  here  in  a  great,  perhaps  in  the 
greatest,  desert  on  the  surface  of  our  globe  ! 

About  midday  (May  22)  we  encamped  near  Yeti 
Siri,  so  named  from  the  seven  wells  formerly  exist- 
ing here ;  from  three  of  these  a  very  salt,  bad-smell- 


Chap.  VII.  TURKOMAN  SUPERSTITIONS.  135 

ing  water  can  still  be  obtained,  but  the  other  four 
are  entirely  dried  up.  The  kervanbashi  expressed  a 
hope  of  our  finding  this  evening  some  rain-water. 
Although  what  remained  in  my  skin  was  more  like 
mud,  I  would  not  exchange  it  for  the  bitter,  nause- 
ous fluid  of  these  wells,  out  of  which  the  camels  were 
made  to  drink,  and  some  of  my  fellow-travelers  made 
their  j^rovisions.  I  was  astonished  to  see  how  the 
latter  vied  with  their  four-footed  brethren  in  drink- 
ing ;  they  laughed  at  my  counsels  to  be  abstemious, 
but  had  later  occasion  to  rue  their  having  slighted 
them. 

After  a  short  halt  we  again  started,  passing  by  a 
hill  higher  than  the  rest  of  the  sand-hills  ;  upon  the 
former  w^e  saw  two  empty  kedjeve.  I  was  told  that 
the  travelers  who  had  been  seated  therein  had  per- 
ished in  the  desert,  and  that  every  thing  that  had 
held  men  was  respected  among  the  Turkomans,  and 
its  destruction  regarded  as  a  sin.  Singular  supersti- 
tion !  Men  sold  to  slavery  and  lands  laid  waste  re- 
garded as  acts  of  virtue,  and  a  wooden  basket  held  in 
honor  because  men  have  once  been  seated  in  it !  The 
desert  and  its  inhabitants  are  really  singular  and  ex- 
traordinary. The  reader  will  be  still  more  surprised 
when  I  relate  to  him  what  we  witnessed  this  same 
evening.  When  it  became  cooler  I  dismounted  with 
the  kervanbashi  and  some  other  Turkomans  in  search 
of  some  rain-water  that  we  hoped  to  find.  We  were 
all  armed,  and  each  went  in  a  difi"erent  direction.  I 
followed  the  kervanbashi ;  and  we  had  advanced  per- 
haps forty  steps,  when  the  latter  observed  some  traces 
in  the  sand,  and  in  great  astonishment  exclaimed, 


136  TEAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VII. 

"Here  there  must  be  men."  We  got  our  muskets 
ready,  and,  guided  by  the  track  that  became  clearer 
and  clearer,  we  at  last  reached  the  mouth  of  a  cave. 
As  from  the  prints  in  the  sand  we  could  infer  that 
there  was  but  a  single  man,  we  soon  penetrated  into 
the  place,  and  I  saw,  with  indescribable  horror,  a 
man — half  a  savage,  with  long  hair  and  beard,  clad 
in  the  skin  of  a  gazelle — who,  no  less  astonished, 
sprang  up,  and  with  leveled  lance  rushed  upon  us. 

While  I  was  contemplating  the  whole  scene  with 
the  greatest  impatience,  the  features  of  my  guide 
showed  the  most  imperturbable  composure. .  When 
he  distinguished  the  half-savage  man  he  dropped  the 
end  of  his  weapon,  and  murmuring  in  a  low  voice 
"Amanbol"  (Peace  be  unto  thee),  he  quitted  the  hor- 
rible place.  "Kanli  dir,  he  is  one  who  has  blood 
upon  his  head,"  exclaimed  the  kervanbashi,  without 
my  having  ventured  to  question  him.  It  was  not 
till  later  that  I  learned  that  this  unhappy  man,  flee- 
ing from  a  righteous  vendetta^  had  been  for  years  and 
years,  summer  and  winter,  wandering  round  the  des- 
ert; man's  face  he  must  not,  he  dares  not  behold  l"*' 

Troubled  at  the  sight  of  this  poor  sinner,  I  sighed 
to  think  that,  in  the  search  after  sweet  water,  we  had 
discovered  only  traces  of  blood.      My  companions  re- 

*  The  "  vendetta"  is  here  even  tolerated  by  religion !  and  I 
was  eye-witness  in  Etrek  to  an  occurrence  where  a  son,  in  the 
presence  of  his  mother,  avenged  the  death  of  his  father,  that  had 
taken  place  eight  years  before,  by  shooting  his  step-father,  who 
had  married  her,  and  who,  it  appeared,  had  been  an  accomplice. 
It  was  very  characteristic  that  the  people  who  were  present  at 
his  interment  condoled  with  the  mother,  and  at  the  same  time 
felicitated  the  son  on  the  act  of  piety  which  he  had  accompUshed. 


138  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASDii.  Chap.  VH. 

turned  also  without  having  been  successful,  and  the 
thought  made  me  shudder  that  this  evening  I  should 
swallow  the  last  dregs  of  the  "sweet  slime."  Oh! 
(thought  I)  water,  dearest  of  all  elements,  why  did  I 
not  earlier  appreciate  thy  worth?  Man  uses  thy 
blessings  like  a  spendthrift!  Yes,  in  my  country 
man  fears  thee  even ;  and  now  what  would  I  give 
could  I  only  obtain  thirty  or  twenty  drops  of  thy 
divine  moisture ! 

I  ate  only  a  few  bits  of  bread,  which  I  moistened 
in  hot  water,  for  I  heard  that  in  boiling  it  loses  its 
bitter  flavor.  I  was  prepared  to  endure  all  until  we 
could  meet  with  a  little  rain-water — I  was  terrified 
by  the  condition  of  my  companions  all  suffering  from 
violent  diarrhoea.  Some  Turkomans,  especially  the 
kervanbashi,  were  much  suspected  of  having  con- 
cealed some  of  the  necessary  liquid ;  but  who  dared 
to  speak  out  his  thought  when  every  design  upon  his 
water-skin  would  be  considered  as  a  design  upon  the 
life  of  its  owner,  and  when  a  man  would  have  been 
regarded  as  out  of  his  senses  who  should  have  asked 
another  for  a  loan  of  water  or  present  of  water? 
This  evening  my  appetite  left  me.  I  had  not  the 
slightest  craving  even  for  the  smallest  piece  of  bread: 
my  sensations  were  those  of  extreme  debility ;  the 
heat  of  the  day  was  indescribable.  My  strength  was 
gone,  and  I  was  lying  there  extended,  when  I  per- 
ceived that  all  were  pressing  round  the  kervanbashi; 
they  made  a  sign  to  me  also  to  approach.  The  words 
"Water,  water,"  gave  me  fresh  vigor.  I  sprang  up ; 
how  overjoyed  and  how  surprised  I  was  when  I  saw 
the  kervanbashi  dealing  out  to  each  member  of  the 


Chap.  VII.  SUFFERINGS  IN  THE  DESERT.  139 

caravan  about  two  glasses  of  the  precious  liquid! 
The  honest  Turkoman  told  us  that  for  years  it  had 
been  his  practice  in  the  desert  to  keep  concealed  a 
considerable  quantity,  and  this  he  doled  out  when  he 
knew  that  it  would  be  most  acceptable  ;  that  this 
would  be  a  great  sevab  (act  of  piety),  for  a  Turkoman 
proverb  says  "that  a  drop  of  water  to  the  man  thirsty 
in  the  wilderness  washes  away  a  hundred  years'  sins." 

It  is  as  imj^ossible  to  measure  the  degree  of  the  ben- 
efit as  to  describe  the  enjoyment  of  such  a  draught!  I 
felt  mj^self  fully  satisfied,  and  imagined  that  I  could 
again  hold  out  three  days !  The  water  had  been  re- 
plenished, but  not  my  bread.  Debility  and  want  of 
appetite  had  rendered  me  somewhat  careless,  and  I 
thought  that  I  could  employ  for  firing,  not  the  wood 
which  was  at  a  little  distance,  but  the  camels'  dung. 
I  had  not  collected  enough.  I  placed  the  dough  in 
the  hot  ashes,  and  it  was  not  till  after  half  an  hour 
that  I  discovered  the  insufficiency  of  the  heat.  I 
hastened  to  fetch  wood,  which  I  set  on  fire ;  it  was 
now  dark,  and  the  kervanbashi  called  out  to  me,  de- 
manding "if  I  wanted  to  betray  the  caravan  to  the 
robbers."  So  I  was  obliged  to  extinguish  the  fire  and 
to  remove  my  bread,  Avhich  was  not  only  not  leaven- 
ed, but  was  onfy  half  baked. 

The  next  morning,  May  23d,  our  station  was  Koy- 
mat  Ata.  It  had  formerly  a  well,  now  dried  up  ;  no 
great  loss,  for  the  water,  like  that  from  all  the  other 
wells  in  the  district,  was  undrinkable.  Unfortunate- 
ly, the  heat,  particularly  in  the  forenoon,  was  really 
unendurable.  The  rays  of  the  sun  often  warm  the 
dry  sand  to  the  depth  of  a  foot,  and  the  ground  be- 


140  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VII. 

comes  so  hot  that  even  the  wildest  inhabitant  of  Cen- 
tral Asia,  whose  habits  make  him  scorn  all  covering 
for  the  feet,  is  forced  to  bind  a  piece  of  leather  under 
his  soles  in  the  form  of  a  sandal.  What  wonder  if 
my  refreshing  draught  of  yesterday  was  forgotten, 
and  I  saw  myself  again  a  prey  to  the  most  fearful 
torments  of  thirst !  At  midday  the  kervanbashi  in- 
formed us  that  we  were  now  near  the  renowned  place 
of  pilgrimage  and  station  named  Kahriman  Ata,  and 
that,  to  fulfill  our  pious  duty,  we  should  dismount  and 
walk  on  foot  a  quarter  of  an  hour  to  the  tomb  of  the 
saint.  Let  the  reader  picture  to  himself  my  suffer- 
ings. Weak  and  enfeebled  from  heat  and  thirst,  I 
was  forced  to  quit  my  seat  and  join  the  procession 
of  pilgrims,  to  march  to  a  tomb  situated  on  an  eleva- 
tion, at  a  distance  of  fifteen  minutes'  walk,  where,  with 
parched  throat,  I  was  expected  to  bellow  forth  telkin 
and  passages  from  the  Koran  like  one  possessed. 
"Oh!  (thought  I)  thou  cruel  saint,  couldst  thou  not 
have  got  thyself  interred  elsewhere,  to  spare  me  the 
terrible  martyrdom  of  this  pilgrimage  V  Quite  out 
of  breath,  I  fell  down  before  the  tomb,  which  was 
thirty  feet  long,  and  ornamented  with  rams'*  horns, 
the  signs  of  supremacy  in  Central  Asia.  The  ker- 
vanbashi recounted  to  us  that  the  saint  who  therein 
reposed  was  a  giant  as  tall  as  his  grave  was  long;* 

*  The  Orientals  love  to  dignify  their  saints  also  with  the  at- 
tribute of  bodily  size.  In  Persia  I  have  remarked  several  giant 
graves;  and  even  in  Constantinople,  on  the  Asiatic  shore  of  the 
Bosphorus,  on  the  so-called  Mount  of  Joshua,  exists  a  long  tomb 
which  the  Turks  venerate  as  that  of  the  Joshua  of  the  Bible,  but 
the  Greeks  as  that  of  Hercules. 


Chap.  VII.  A  BITTER  DISAPPOINTMENT.  14X 

that  he  had  for  countless  years  past  defended  the 
wells  around  from  the  attacks  of  evil  spirits  that 
sought  to  fill  them  up  with  stones.  In  the  vicinity 
several  small  graves  are  visible,  the  last  resting-places 
of  poor  travelers,  who  in  different  parts  of  the  desert 
have  perished  from  the  hands  of  robbers  or  from  the 
fury  of  the  elements.  The  news  of  wells  under  the 
protection  of  the  saint  overjoyed  me.  I  hoped  to 
find  water  that  I  could  drink.  I  hastened  so  much 
that  I  really  was  the  first  to  reach  the  place  indi- 
cated. I  soon  perceived  the  well,  which  was  like  a 
brown  puddle.  I  filled  my  hands ;  it  was  as  if  I 
had  laid  hold  of  ice.  I  raised  the  moisture  to  my 
lips.  Oh !  what  a  martyrdom !  not  a  drop  could  I 
swallow — so  bitter,  so  salt,  so  stinking  was  the  ice- 
cold  draught.  My  despair  knew  no  bounds :  it  was 
the  first  time  that  I  really  felt  anxiety  for  the  result. 


X42  TRAVELS  m  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VIII. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


THUNDEB. GAZELLES    AND   WILD    ASSES. — ARRIVAL   AT   THE    PLATEAU  KAF- 

TANKIR. ANCIENT     BED     OF    THE     OXUS. FRIEKDLT    ENCAMPMENT. AP- 
PROACH    OF     HORSEMEN.  GAZAVAT.  ENTRY     INTO     KHIVA. JLA.LICIOUS 

CHARGE    BY    THE     AFGHAN.  —  INTERVIEW     WITH    THE    KHAN. AUTHOR    RE- 
QUIRED  TO   GIVE  A  SPECIMEN   OF  TURKISH  PENMANSHIP. — ROBES   OF  HONOR 

ESTIMATED    BY    HUMAN    HEADS. HORRIBLE    EXECUTION     OF    PRISONERS. 

PECULIAR   EXECUTION   OF   WOMEN.  —  KUNGRAT.  —  THE   AUTHOR'S   LAST   BEN- 
EDICTION  OF   THE   KHAN. 


"  On  n'y  verr a  jamais  que  I'heroisme  et  la  servitude."  —  Montesq.,  Esprit  des 
Lois,  1.  xvii.,  c.  6. 

^^  Chiefs  of  the  Uzbek  race 
Waving  their  heron  crests  with  martial  grace. ^' 

Moore,  Veiled  Prophet. 


Thunder,  heard  for  hours  at  a  distance,  not  coming 
near  to  us  till  midnight,  and  then  only  bringing  a  few 
heavy  drops  of  rain,  was  the  herald  that  announced 
to  us  the  end  of  our  torments.  Toward  the  morning 
of  the  24th  of  May  we  had  reached  the  extreme 
boundary  of  the  sand  through  which  we  had  toiled 
during  three  days  ;  we  were  now  certain  to  find  this 
day  rain-water  wherever  we  should  meet  a  subsoil  of 
clay.  The  kervanbashi  had  found  a  confirmation  of 
this  hope  in  the  traces  of  numbers  of  gazelles  and 
wild  asses :  he  did  not  betray  his  thoughts,  but  hast- 
ened on,  and  was,  in  efifect,  the  first  happy  one  to 
discover  with  his  ferret  eyes,  and  to  point  out  to  the 
caravan,  a  little  lake  of  rain-water.  "  Su !  su ! "  (wa- 
ter, water)  shouted  all  for  joy ;  and  the  mere  sight, 


Chap.  VHI.  AN  ABUNDANCE  OF  WATER.  143 

without  wetting  the  lips,  satisfied  the  craving  and 
quieted  our  uneasiness.  At  noon  we  reached  the 
spot.  We  afterward  found,  in  addition  to  our  pre- 
vious discovery,  other  pits  filled  with  the  sweetest 
water.  I  was  one  of  the  first  to  hurry  thither  with 
my  skin  and  vessels — not  to  drink,  but  rather  to  col- 
lect the  water  before  it  was  disturbed  and  converted 
into  mire  by  the  crowd.  In  half  an  hour  every  body 
in  a  rapture  was  seated  at  his  breakfast ;  it  is  quite 
impossible  to  convey  an  idea  of  the  general  delight. 
From  this  station,  called  Deli  Ata,  all  the  way  to 
Khiva,  our  skins  were  constantly  full,  and  hence- 
forth our  journey  in  the  desert  may  be  styled,  if  not 
agreeable,  at  least  free  from  uneasiness.  In  the  even- 
ing we  reached  a  spot  where  spring  reigned  in  all  its 
glory.  We  encamped  in  the  midst  of  countless  little 
lakes,  surrounded,  as  it  were,  by  garlands  of  meadows; 
it  seemed  a  dream  when  I  compared  it  with  our  en- 
campment of  the  previous  day.  To  complete  our 
delight,  we  were  here  informed  that  all  fear  of  a  sur- 
prise, that  we  most  dreaded,  was  at  an  end,  but  it  was 
recommended  that  for  this  night  we  should  still  ab- 
stain from  Ii2;htin2:  fires.  It  must  not  be  omitted 
that  the  sons  of  the  desert  ascribed  the  unexpected 
abundance  of  water  solely  to  our  pious  hadji  charac- 
ter. We  filled  our  skins  and  started  again  in  excel- 
lent spirits. 

This  evening  we  reached  the  trench  for  which  we 
had  so  longed.  On  the  farther  side  of  it  is  the  pla- 
teau Kaftankir  (tiger  field).  It  marks  the  commence- 
ment of  the  territory  forming  the  khanat  of  Khiva. 

A  wearisome  task  for  man  and  beast  was  the  as- 


144  TEAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VIII. 

cent,  nearly  300  feet  long,  that  led  up  to  the  plateau. 
I  was  told  that  its  north  side  had  an  approach  equal- 
ly steep  and  high.  The  whole  presents  an  extraor- 
dinary spectacle  ;  the  land  on  which  we  stand,  as  far 
as  the  eye  can  reach,  seems  to  raise  itself  like  an  isl- 
and out  of  the  sea  of  sand.  One  can  not  discern  the 
limit  either  of  the  deep  trench  here  or  of  that  on  the 
northeast ;  and  if  we  can  credit  the  ass'ertion  of  the 
Turkomans,  both  are  old  channels  of  the  Oxus,  and 
Kaftankir  itself  was  formerly  an  island  surrounded 
on  all  sides  by  these  cuttings.  Certain,  however,  it 
is  that  the  entire  district  is  very  distinguishable  from 
the  rest  of  the  desert  by  its  soil  and  vegetation,  and 
the  number  of  animals  with  which  it  abounds.  We 
had  before  occasionally  met  with  gazelles  and  wild 
asses,  single  and  separate,  but  how  astounded  I  was 
to  find  them  here  by  hundreds,  and  grazing  in  large 
herds.  I  think  it  was  during  the  second  day  passed 
by  us  on  the  Kaftankir  that  we  perceived,  about 
noon,  an  immense  cloud  of  dust  rising  toward  the 
north.  The  kervanbashi  and  the  Turkomans  all 
grasped  their  arms ;  the  nearer  it  approached,  the 
greater  grew  our  anxiety.  At  last  we  could  distin- 
guish the  whole  moving  mass ;  it  seemed  like  a  rank 
or  column  of  squadrons  on  the  point  of  charging. 
Our  guides  lowered  the  points  of  their  weapons.  I 
strove  to  remain  faithful  to  ray  Oriental  character, 
and  not  to  betray  my  curiosity,  but  my  impatience 
knew  no  bounds  ;  the  cloud  came  nearer  and  nearer : 
at  a  distance  of  about  fifty  paces  we  heard  a  clatter 
as  if  a  thousand  practiced  horsemen  had  halted  at 
the  word  of  command.     We  saw  a  countless  number 


Chap.  VKI.    THE  KAPTANKIR.— WITHOUT  A  SHIRT.  145 

of  wild  msses,  animals  in  good  condition  and  full  of 
life,  standing  still,  ranged  in  a  well-formed  line.  They 
gazed  intently  at  us  a  few  moments,  and  then,  proba- 
bly discovering  of  how  heterogeneous  a  character  we 
were,  they  again  betook  themselves  to  their  flight, 
hurrying  with  the  swiftness  of  arrows  toward  the 
west. 

Observed  from  the  side  toward  Khiva,  the  elevated 
ground  of  the  Kaftankir  has  the  appearance  of  a  reg- 
ular wall;  its  margin  is  parallel  with  the  horizon, 
and  as  level  as  if  it  were  only  yesterday  that  the  wa- 
ter had  retired.  From  this  point  a  day's  march 
brought  us,  on  the  morning  of  May  28th,  to  a  lake 
named  Shor  Gol  (salt  sea),  which  forms  a  rectangle, 
and  is  twelve  English  miles  in  circumference.  It 
was  resolved  that  we  should  here  make  a  halt  of  six 
hours,  to  complete  the  gusl*  prescribed  to  Moham- 
medans, especially  as  this  day  was  the  festival  of 
Eidi  Kurban,  one  of  the  most  famous  holidays  of 
Islam.  My  companions  loosed  their  knapsacks :  each 
had  his  fresh  shirt  to  put  on ;  I  alone  was  unpro- 
vided. Hadji  Bilal  wanted  to  lend  me  one,  but  I 
declined  the  proffered  kindness,  being  firmly  con- 
vinced that  the  greater  my  apparent  poverty  the  less 
risk  I  should  run.  I  could  not  refrain  from  laugh- 
ing when  for  the  first  time  I  gazed  upon  myself  in  a 
glass,  and  contemplated  my  face  covered  with  a  thick 
crust  of  dirt  and  sand.     True,  I  might  have  washed 

*  Gusl  is  the  ablution  of  the  whole  body,  only  in  exceptional 
cases  necessary.  The  ordinary  washings  before  each  of  the  five 
prayers  of  the  day  are  called  abdest  in  Turkish,  vudhu  in  Ara- 
bic, and  teharet  in  Central  Asia. 

K 


146  ,         TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VIII. 

in  many,  places  in  the  desert,  but  I  had  purposely 
forborne,  in  order  that  the  coating  might  defend  me 
from  the  burning  sun  ;  but  the  expedient  had  not  al- 
together produced  the  desired  effect,  and  many  marks 
I  shall  retain  all  my  life  long  to  remind  me  of  my 
sufferings.  Not  I  alone,  but  all  my  comrades  were 
disfigured  by  the  teyemmiin,*  for  believers  are  re- 
quired to  wash  themselves  with  dust  and  sand,  and 
so  render  themselves  dirtier.  After  I  had  completed 
my  toilet,  I  observed  that  my  friends,  in  comparison 
with  me,  looked  really  like  gentlemen.  They  com- 
passionated me,  and  insisted  upon  lending  me  some 
articles  of  attire;  thanking  them,  I  declined  with  the 
remark  that  I  should  wait  until  the  Khan  of  Khiva 
himself  should  dress  me. 

We  passed  now  for  four  hours  through  a  little 
thicket,  called  here  yilghin,  where  we  met  an  Ozbeg 
coming  from  Khiva,  who  informed  us  as  to  the  act- 
ual position  of  affairs  there.  However  agreeable  a 
surprise  the  sight  of  this  horseman  to  us  all,  it  was 
as  nothing  compared  with  the  feeling  experienced 
in  beholding  in  the  afternoon  a  few  abandoned  mud 
houses ;  for,  since  quitting  Karatepe,  on  the  frontiers 
of  Persia,  I  had  not  seen  so  much  as  a  wall  or  other 
indication  of  a  house.  These  had  been  inhabited  a 
few  years  before,  and  were  reckoned  a  portion  of 
Medemin,  a  village  which  stretches  oft'  in  an  easterly 
direction.  This  district  had  never  been  put  under 
cultivation  until  Mehemmed  Emin  took  it  in  hand 
fifteen  years  ago,  on  which  account  it  bears  its  pres- 

*  A  substitute  abdest  prescribed  by  the  Prophet  for  use  in 
the  dry  desert  when  no  water  can  be  obtained. 


Chap.  VIII.         CAUTION.— "  AMAN  GELDINGHIZ !"  147 

ent  designation,  an  abbreviation  of  his  name.  Since 
the  last  war  this  village  had  lain  waste  and  desolate, 
as  we  shall  observe  to  be  the  case  with  many  others 
in  Turkestan. 

This  morning  (29th  of  May)  it  seemed  to  me  that 
instead  of  following  the  direction  to  the  northeast,  in 
which  Khiva  lies,  we  had  changed  our  course  direct- 
ly to  the  north.  I  made  inquiries,  and  found  that 
we  were  taking  a  circuitous  way  for  the  sake  of  se- 
curity. The  Ozbeg  met  yesterday  had  warned  us  to 
be  on  our  guard,  for  that  the  Tchaudors  were  in  open 
rebellion  against  the  khan,  and  that  their  alamans 
were  often  making  forays  on  these  frontiers. 

This  evening  we  continued  our  onward  march,  not 
without  caution,  and  who  happier  than  I  when  we 
next  morning  saw  on  our  right  hand  and  on  our  left 
groups  of  tents,  and  every  where  as  we  passed  we 
were  greeted  with  the  most  friendly  cry  of  "Aman 
geldinghiz"  (welcome)!  Our  comrade  Ilias,  having 
friends  among  those  encamped  here,  proceeded  at 
once  to  fetch  some  warm  bread  and  other  kurban 
presents  (holiday  dainties).  He  came  back  richly 
laden,  and  shared  among  us  flesh,  bread,  and  kimis  (a 
sharp  acid  drink  made  with  mare's  milk).  Although 
we  only  passed  here  one  brief  hour  of  repose,  many 
God-fearing  nomads  approached  us,  to  realize  by  the 
pressure  of  our  hands  their  holy  aspirations.  In  re- 
turn for  four  or  five  formulae  I  received  a  quantity 
of  bread,  and  several  pieces  of  flesh  of  camel,  horse, 
and  sheep. 

We  crossed  many  yap  (artificial  trenches  for  irri- 
gation), and  arrived  by  midday  at  a  deserted  citadel 


148  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VIH. 

named  Khanabad,  whose  high  square  walls  had  been 
visible  at  a  distance  of  three  miles.  We  passed  there 
the  afternoon  and  evening.  The  sun  Avas  glowing 
hot.  How  refreshing  was  it  to  slumber  under  the 
shade  of  the  wall,  although  the  bare  earth  was  my 
bed,  and  a  stone  my  pillow !  We  left  Khanabad, 
which  is  distant  twenty-five  miles  from  Khiva,  before 
daybreak,  and  were  surprised  during  the  whole  day's 
march  that  we  did  not  perceive  a  single  tent.  We 
even  found  ourselves  in  the  evening  below  large  hills 
of  sand,  and  I  fancied  myself  once  more  transported 
to  the  desert.  We  were  occupied  taking  our  tea, 
when  the  camels  sent  to  pasture  began  to  run  wildly 
about ;  we  suspected  some  one  was  chasing  them, 
when  five  horsemen  came  in  sight,  who  proceeded 
immediately  at  a  gallop  toward  our  encampment. 
To  exchange  the  tea-things  for  muskets,  and  to  pre- 
sent a  line  of  fire,  was  the  work  of  an  instant ;  the 
horsemen  in  the  mean  time  approached  slowly,  and 
we  discerned  by  the  pace  of  the  horses  that  fortu- 
nately we  had  mistaken,  and  that  instead  of  having 
to  deal  with  enemies  we  should  have  a  friendly  es- 
cort to  accompany  us  as  far  as  Khiva. 

The  next  morning  (30th  of  May)  we  reached  an 
Ozbeg  village  belonging  to  Akyap.  And  here  the 
desert  between  Gomiishtepe  and  Khiva  terminated 
entirely.  The  inhabitants  of  this  village  were  the 
first  Ozbegs  that  I  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing; 
we  found  them  excellent  people.  In  accordance 
with  the  practice  of  the  country,  we  visited  their 
houses  and  reaped  a  rich  harvest  with  our  fatihas. 
I  now  again  saw,  after  a  long  interval,  some  articles 


Chap.  VIII.  YOMUTS  NEAR  KHIVA.  I49 

coming  from  the  beloved  West,  and  my  heart  leaped 
within  me  for  joy.  We  might  still  have  reached 
this  day  the  habitation  of  Ilias,  for  here  begins  a  vil- 
lage* peopled  by  Khivan  Yomuts,  and  called  Akyap, 
but  our  friend  the  cattle-dealer  was  a  little  indolent, 
or  did  not  wish  us  to  arrive  unexpected  guests ;  we 
consequently  passed  the  night  two  leagues  from  his 
house,  at  his  uncle's,  Allahnazr  Bay,f  who  was  a 
man  in  opulent  circumstances,  and  gave  us  a  most 
hospitable  and  distinguished  reception.  This  afford- 
ed an  opportunity  for  Ilias  to  inform  his  \yife  of  our 
arrival.  We  made  our  formal  entry  next  morning 
(1st  of  June),  a  countless  host  of  members  of  his 
family  and  relatives  having  first  hastened  to  meet 
and  welcome  us.  He  offered  me  a  neat  tent  for  my 
habitation,  but  I  preferred  his  garden,  for  there  were 
trees,  and  for  shade  my  soul  pined!  Long  was  it 
since  I  had  seen  any ! 

During  my  two  days'  sojourn  among  the  half-civ- 
ilized Turkomans — by  which  I  mean  those  who  M'ere 
only  half  settled,  half  fixed  in  their  abodes — what 
most  surprised  me  was  the  aversion  these  nomads 
have  to  every  thing  in  the  form  either  of  house  or 
government.  Although  they  have  dwelt  now  sev- 
eral centuries  side  by  side  with  the  Ozbegs,  they  de- 
test the  manners  and  customs  of  the  latter,  avoid 
their  company,  and,  although  of  kindred  origin  and 

*  Village  is  here  called  aul  or  oram ;  it  does  not  correspond 
with  our  idea  of  a  number  of  continuous  houses,  but  a  district 
where  the  people  belonging  to  one  aul  encamp  and  dwell  in  a 
scattered  manner  about  their  meadows  and  lands. 

f  Bay  or  bi;  in  Turkey,  bey  means  a  personage  of  distinction. 


l^Q  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASLA..  Cuap.  VIII. 

tongue,  an  Ozbeg  is  as  much  a  stranger  in  their  eyes 
as  a  Hottentot  is  in  ours. 

After  we  had  taken  a  little  repose,  the  caravan 
proceeded  on  its  way  to  the  capital.  We  traversed 
Gazavat,  where  the  weekly  market  was  being  held, 
and  had  a  first  glimpse  at  the  Khivan  mode  of  liv- 
ino-.  We  passed  the  night  in  a  meadow,  before 
Sheikhlar  Kalesi.  Here  I  encountered  a  species  of 
gnat,  larger  and  more  impudent  than  any  I  ever  met 
with.  We  were  plagued  to  death,  both  man  and 
beast,  the  whole  night  long,  and  I  was  not,  therefore, 
in  the  best  of  spirits  when  I  was  forced  again  to 
mount  my  camel  in  the  morning  without  having  for 
so  many  hours  closed  an  eye.  Happily,  we  soon  for- 
got what  we  had  suffered  from  sleeplessness  in  the 
impression  derived  from  the  magnificent  productions 
of  spring.  The  vegetation  became  more  and  more 
luxuriant  and  abundant  the  nearer  we  approached 
Khiva.  I  at  first  thought  that  the  only  reason  why 
Khiva  seemed  so  very  beautiful  was  the  contrast' it 
presented  with  the  desert,  of  which  the  terrible  form 
still  floated  before  my  eyes.  But  ah !  the  environs 
of  Khiva,  with  its  small  havlis,*  in  the  form  of 
strong- holds  shaded  by  lofty  poplars,  with  its  fine 
meadows  a»d  rich  fields,  seem  to  me  still,  after  I 
have  visited  the  most  charming  countries  of  Europe, 
as  beautiful  as  ever.  Had  the  Eastern  poets  tuned 
their  lyres  here,  they  would  have  found  a  more 
worthy  theme  than  in  the  horrid  wastes  of  Persia ! 

*  Havli  means  literally  radius,  but  here  taken  in  the  sense  of 
our  word  court.  It  contains  the  tents,  the  stalls,  store-room  for 
produce,  and  such  like  things  which  j^ertaiu  to  the  homestead  of 
an  (jzbeg  countryman. 


Chap.  VEQ.  ARRIVAL  IN  KHIVA.  "  151 

Even  its  capital,  Khiva,  as  it  rises  in  the  midst  of 
these  gardens,  with  its  domes  and  minarets,  makes  a 
tolerably  favorable  impression  when  seen  at  a  dis- 
tance. A  prominent  feature  is  the  projection  of  a 
tongue  of  barren  earth  belonging  to  the  sandy  desert 
of  Merv :  it  stretches  to  within  a  league  of  the  city, 
as  if  to  mark  completely  here,  too,  the  sharply-defined 
contrast  between  life  and  death.  This  tongue  of  earth 
is  known  under  the  name  of  toyesitchti,  and  we  were 
already  before  the  gate  of  the  city,  and  yet  those  sand- 
hills were  still  in  sight. 

The  reader  will  easily  imagine  in  what  a  state  my 
spirits  were  when  I  found  myself  before  the  walls  of 
Khiva,  if  he  reflects  on  the  risks  to  which  any  suspi- 
cion of  my  disguise  would  expose  me,  as  soon  as  a 
first  introduction  should  discover  my  European  feat- 
ures. I  was  well  aware  that  the  Khan  of  Khiva, 
whose  cruelty  was  displeasing  to  the  Tartars  them- 
selves, would,  in  case  he  felt  any  distrust,  become  far 
severer  to  me  than  the  other  Turkomans.  I  had 
heard  that  the  khan  was  in  the  habit  of  at  once 
making  slaves  of  all  strangers  of  doubtful  character; 
that  he  had,  not  long  before,  so  treated  a  Hindustani, 
who  claimed  to  be  of  princely  origin,  and  who  was 
now,  like  the  other  slaves,  employed  in  dragging  along 
the  artillery  carriages.  My  nerves  were  all  strung  to 
the  highest  point,  but  I  was  not  intimidated.  I  had, 
from  constant  risk,  become  inured  to  it.  Death,  the 
least  serious  result  of  my  enterprise,  had  now  been 
floating  continually  before  my  eyes  for  three  months, 
and,  instead  of  trembling,  I  considered  how,  on  any 
pressing  emergency,  I  might  by  some  expedient  get 


152  TEAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VIII. 

the  better  of  the  watchfulness  of  the  superstitious  ty- 
rant. On  the  journey  I  had  acquired  exact  informa- 
tion respecting  all  the  distinguished  Khivites  who 
had  been  in  Constantinople.  They  named  to  me 
oftenest  a  certain  Shtikrullah  Bay,  who  had  been  in 
residence  ten  years  at  the  court  of  the  sultan.  Of 
his  person  I  had  a  half  recollection,  for  I  had  seen 
him  several  times  at  the  house  of  Ali  Pasha,  the 
present  minister  of  Foreign  Affairs.  This  Shiikrul- 
lah  Bay,  thought  I,  only  knows  Stamboul  and  its  lan- 
guage, its  manners  and  its  great  personages :  wheth- 
er he  will  or  not,  I  must  compel  him  to  admit  a  pre- 
vious knowledge  of  me ;  and  as  I  can  deceive,  per- 
sonating the  Stambouli,  the  Stambouli  himself,  the 
ex-embassador  of  the  Khan  of  Khiva  will  never  be 
able  to  disavow  me,  and  must  serve  my  purpose. 

At  the  very  entrance  of  the  gate  we  were  met  by 
several  pious  Khivites,  who  handed  up  to  us  bread 
and  dried  fruits  as  we  sat  upon  our  camels.  For 
years  so  numerous  a  troop  of  hadjis  had  not  arrived 
in  Khiva.  All  stared  at  us  in  astonishment,  and  the 
exclamations  "Aman  eszen  geldinghiz"  (welcome)! 
"Ha  shahbazim!  Ha  arszlanim"  (ah!  my  falcon, 
my  lion) !  resounded  on  all  sides  in  our  ears.  On  en- 
tering the  bazar,  Hadji  Bilal  intoned  a  telkin.  My 
voice  was  heard  above  them  all,  and  I  felt  real  emo- 
tion when  the  people  impressed  their  kisses  upon  my 
hands  and  feet — yes,  upon  the  very  rags  which  hung 
from  me.  In  accordance  with  the  custom  of  the 
country,  we  dismounted  at  the  caravanserai.  This 
served  also  as  a  custom-house,  where  the  new  arrivals 
of  men  and  merchandise  are  subjected  to  severe  ex- 


Chap.  VIII.  THE  AUTHOR  A  CURIOSITY.  153 

amination.  The  testimony  of  the  chiefs  of  the  cara- 
vans have,  as  is  natural,  the  greatest  weight  in  the 
balance.  The  functions  of  chief  of  the  customs  are 
filled  in  Khiva  by  the  principal  mehrem  (a  sort  of 
chamberlain  and  confidant  of  the  khan).  Scarcely 
had  this  official  addressed  the  ordinary  questions  to 
our  kervanbashi,  when  the  Afghan  pressed  forward 
and  called  out  aloud,  "We  have  brought  to  Khiva 
three  interesting  quadrupeds  and  a  no  less  interest- 
ing bijDcd."  The  first  part  of  this  pleasantry  was,  of 
course,  applied  to  the  buffaloes,  animals  not  before 
seen  in  Khiva ;  but  as  the  second  part  was  pointed 
at  me,  it  was  no  wonder  that  many  eyes  were  imme- 
diately turned  upon  me,  and  amid  the  whispering  it 
was  not  difficult  to  distinguish  the  words  "djansiz"* 
(spy),  "Frenghi,"  and  "Urus"  (Russian),  I  made  an 
effort  to  prevent  the  blood  rising  to  my  cheeks,  and 
was  upon  the  point  of  withdrawing,  when  the  mehrem 
ordered  me  to  remain.  He  applied  himself  to  my 
case,  using  exceedingly  uncivil  expressions.  I  was 
about  to  reply,  when  Hadji  Salih,  whose  exterior  in- 
spired respect,  came  in,  and,  entirely  ignorant  of  what 
had  passed,  represented  me  in  the  most  flattering  col- 
ors to  my  inquisitor,  who,  surprised,  told  me,  smiling 
as  he  did  so,  to  take  a  seat  by  his  side.  Hadji  Salih 
made  a  sign  to  me  to  accept  the  invitation,  but,  as- 
suming the  air  of  one  highly  offended,  and  throwing 
an  angry  look  upon  the  mehrem,  I  retired.  My  first 
step  was  to  go  to  Shiikrullah  Bay,  who,  without  fill- 
ing any  functions,  occupied  a  cell  at  that  time  in  the 
medresse  of  Mehemmed  Emin-Khan,  the  finest  edifice 
*  From  the  Arabic  word  djasus  (spy). 


154  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASL^.  Chap.  VIII. 

in  Khiva.  I  announced  myself  to  him  as  an  efFendi 
arrived  from  Stamboul,  with  the  observation  that  I 
had  made  his  acquaintance  there,  and  had  wished,  in 
passing,  to  wait  upon  him.  The  arrival  of  an  effendi 
in  Khiva,  an  occurrence  so  unprecedented,  occasioned 
the  old  man  some  surprise.  He  came  forward  him- 
self to  meet  me,  and  his  wonder  increased  when  he 
saw  a  mendicant,  terribly  disfigured  and  in  rags, 
standing  before  him :  not  that  this  prevented  him 
from  admitting  me.  I  had  only  interchanged  a  few 
words  with  him,  in  the  dialect  of  Stamboul,  when, 
with  ever-increasing  eagerness,  he  put  question  upon 
question  concerning  his  numerous  friends  in  the 
Turkish  capital,  and  the  recent  doings  and  position 
of  the  Ottoman  empire  since  the  accession  of  the 
present  sultan.  As  I  before  said,  I  was  fully  confi- 
dent in  the  part  I  was  playing.  On  his  side,  Shii- 
krullah  Bay  could  not  contain  himself  for  joy  when 
I  gave  him  news  of  his  acquaintances  there  in  detail. 
Still  he  felt  not  the  less  astonishment.  "In  God's 
name,  effendi,  what  induced  you  to  come  to  this 
fearful  country,  and  to  come  to  us,  too,  from  that 
paradise  on  earth,  from  Stamboul  V  Sighing,  I  ex- 
claimed, "Ah!  pir"  (spiritual  chief),  laid  one  hand  on 
my  eyes,  a  sign  of  obedience,  and  the  excellent  old 
man,  a  Mussulman  of  tolerably  good  education,  could 
not  misapprehend  my  meaning,  i.e.,  that  I  belonged 
to  some  order  of  dervishes,  and  had  been  sent  by  my 
pir  (chief  of  my  order)  upon  a  journey,  which  is  a 
duty  that  every  murid  (disciple  of  an  order  of  der- 
vishes) must  fulfill  at  the  hazard  of  his  life.  .My 
explanation  rejoiced  him  ;  he  but  asked  the  name  of 


Chap.  VIIL  LODGINGS  IN  A  TEKKIE.  155 

the  order.  On  my  mentioning  the  Nakishbendi,  he 
at  once  understood  that  Bokhara  was  the  aim  of  my 
journey.  He  wished  immediately  to  obtain  for  me 
quarters  in  the  medresse  before  named,  but  I  men- 
tioned at  the  same  time  my  situation  with  respect  to 
my  companions.  I  then  ahnost  immediately  with- 
drew, with  the  promise  soon  to  repeat  my  visit. 

On  returning  to  the  caravanserai,  I  was  told  that 
my  fellow-travelers  had  already  found  lodgings  in  a 
tekkie,  a  sort  of  convent  where  traveling  dervishes 
put  up,  called  toshebaz.*  I  proceeded  thither,  and 
found  that  they  had  also  reserved  and  got  ready  a 
cell  for  me.  Scarcely  was  I  again  in  their  midst 
when  they  questioned  me  as  to  the  cause  of  my  de- 
laying to  rejoin  them ;  all  expressed  their  regret  at 
my  not  having  been  present  Avhen  the  wretched  Af- 
ghan, who  had  wished  go  to  compromise  me,  had  been 
obliged  to  beat  a  retreat,  loaded  with  curses  and  re- 
proaches, not  only  by  them,  but  by  the  Khivites. 
"Very  good,"  thought  I;  "the  popular  suspicion 
removed,  it  will  be  easy  enough  to  deal  with  the 
khan,  for  he  will  be  immediately  informed  of  my  ar- 
rival by  Shiikrullah  Bay ;  and  as  the  rulers  of  Khi- 
va have  ever  evinced  the  greatest  respect  for  the  sul- 
tan, the  present  sovereign  Avill  certainly  venture  a 
step  toward  an  efFendi ;  nay,  it  is  not  impossible 
that  the  first  man  from  Constantinople  who  has 
come  to  Kharezm  (the  political  name  of  Khiva)  may 
even  be  treated  with  particular  distinction." 

*  So  called  from  tort  shahbaz,  which  means  the  four  falcons 
or  heroes,  as  tlie  four  kings  are  designated  whose  tomb  is  here, 
and  who  gave  rise  to  the  pious  estabUshment. 


156  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VIU. 

My  anticipations  did  not  deceive  me.  The  next 
day  there  came  a  yasaul  (officer  of  the  court),  bring- 
ing to  me  a  small  present  from  the  khan,  with  the 
order  that  I  should  in  the  evening  go  to  the  ark 
(palace),  "as  the  hazret"  (a  title  of  sovereignty  in 
Central  Asia,  corresponding  with  our  expression 
majesty)  "attached  great  importance  to  receiving  the 
blessing  from  a  dervish  born  in  the  Holy  Land. ""  I 
promised  compliance,  betook  myself  an  hour  previ- 
ously to  Shiikrullah  Bay;  and  as  he  was  desirous 
of  being  himself  present  at  the  interview,  he  accom- 
panied me  to  the  palace  of  the  king,  which  was  in 
his  immediate  vicinity,  giving  me,  on  the  way,  coun- 
sel as  to  the  ceremonies  to  be  observed  in  my  inter- 
view. He  also  told  me  of  the  bad  footing  in  which 
he  himself  stood  with  the  mehter  (a  sort  of  minister 
of  the  Home  Department),  who  feared  him  as  a  rival, 
and  neglected  nothing  to  do  him  an  injury,  and  who, 
owing  to  my  being  introduced  by  him,  would  not, 
perhaps,  give  me  the  most  friendly  reception.  As 
the  kushbeghi  and  the  elder  brother  of  the  king  were 
commanding  in  the  field  against  the  Tchaudors,  the 
mehter  was  provisionally  the  first  official  minister  of 
the  khan.  Both  usage  and  necessity  forced  me  to 
begin  by  paying  him  my  respects,  for  his  office  was 
in  a  hall  in  a  forecourt  at  the  very  gate  that  leads 
directly  to  the  khan's  apartments. 

As  at  this  hour  there  was  almost  every  day  an  arz 
(public  audience),  the  principal  entrance,  as  well  as 
all  the  other  chambers  of  the  royal  residence  trav- 
ersed by  us,  were  crowded  with  petitioners  of  every 
class,  sex,  and  age.     They  were  attired  in  their  ordi- 


Chap.  VIII.  INTERVIEW  WITH  THE  MEHTER.  157 

nary  dresses,  and  many  women  had  even  children  in 
their  arms,  waiting  to  obtain  a  hearing ;  for  no  one 
is  required  to  inscribe  his  name,  and  he  who  has 
managed  to  force  his  way  first  is  first  admitted.  The 
crowd,  however,  gave  way  for  us  on  all  sides ;  and  it 
was  a  source  of  great  satisfaction  to  hear  the  women, 
while  pointing  to  me,  saying  to  one  another,  "Behold 
the  dervish  from  Constantinople,  who  is  to  give  his 
blessing  to  our  khan.  May  God  give  ear  to  his 
words ! " 

I  found  the  mehter,  as  I  had  been  told,  in  a  hall 
surrounded  by  his  officers,  who  accompanied  every 
word  of  their  lord  with  approving  smiles.  It  was 
easy  to  distinguish,  by  his  brown  complexion  and  his 
long  thick  beard  falling  down  to  his  breast,  that  he 
was  Sart  (of  Persian  origin).  His  clumsy  dress,  and 
his  great  fur  cap  especially,  suited  his  rough  features 
admirably.  As  he  saw  me  approach  he  s23oke  a  few 
words  laughingly  to  those  around  him.  I  went 
straight  up,  saluted  him  with  a  serious  expression 
of  countenance,  and  assumed  at  once  the  place  of 
honor  in  the  company,  belonging  of  right  to  the  der- 
vishes. I  uttered  the  usual  prayers,  and  after  all 
had  added  the  Amen  with  the  ordinary  stroking  of 
the  beard,  the  customary  civilities  were  interchanged 
with  the  mehter.  The  minister  was  desirous  of  show- 
ing his  wit,  and  remarked  that  even  dervishes  in  Con- 
stantinople were  well  educated,  and  spoke  Arabic  (al- 
though I  had  only  made  use  of  the  Stambouli  dialect). 
He  proceeded  to  say  that  the  hazret  (his  majesty) — 
and  here  every  one  rose  from  his  seat — desired  to  see 
me,  and  that  "he  would  be  glad  to  hear  that  I  had 


158  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VHL 

brought  with  me  a  few  lines  from  the  sultan  or  his 
embassador  in  Teheran."  Whereupon  I  observed 
that  my  journey  had  no  secular  object ;  that  I  want- 
ed nothing  from  any  one ;  but  that,  for  my  personal 
security,  I  had  with  me  a  firman,  bearing  at  the  top 
the  tugra  (seal  of  the  sultan).  I  then  handed  him 
my  printed  pass.  On  receiving  this  sign  of  para- 
mount sovereignty,  he  kissed  it  reverently,  rubbed  it 
on  his  forehead,  rose  to  place  it  in  the  hands  of  the 
khan,  and,  returning  almost  immediately,  told  me  to 
step  into  the  hall  of  audience. 

I  was  preceded  by  Shiikrullah,  and  was  constrained 
to  wait  a  few  moments  until  the  necessary  prepara- 
tions had  been  made  ;  for,  although  I  was  announced 
as  a  dervish,  my  introducer  had  not  neglected  to  draw 
attention  to  the  fact  that  I  was  acquainted  with  all 
the  pashas  of  distinction  in  Constantinople,  and  that 
it  was  desirable  to  leave  upon  me  as  imposing  an  im- 
pression as  possible.  After  the  lapse  of  a  few  mo- 
ments my  arms  were  held  Avith  every  demonstration 
of  respect  by  two  yasaul.  The  curtain  was  rolled 
up,  and  I  saw  before  me  Seid  Mehemmed  Khan,  Pa- 
dishahi  Kharezm,  or,  as  he  would  be  styled  in  ordi- 
nary prose,  the  Khan  of  Khiva,  on  a  sort  of  elevation, 
or  dais,  with  his  left  arm  supported  upon  a  round  silk 
velvet  pillow,  and  his  right  holding  a  short  golden 
sceptre. 

According  to  the  ceremonial  prescribed,  I  raised 
my  hands,  being  imitated  in  the  act  by  the  khan  and 
the  others  present,  recited  a  short  sura  from  the  Ko- 
ran ;  then  two  allahumu  sella,  and  a  usual  prayer  be- 
ginning with  the  words  "Allahumu  rabbena,"  and 


Chap.  VIII.  INTERVIEW  WITH  THE  KH^VN.  I59 

concluding  with  a  loud  Amen  and  stroking  of  the 
beard.  While  the  khan  was  still  stroking  his  beard, 
each  of  the  rest  exclaimed  "Kabul  bolgay''  (May 
thy  prayer  be  heard) !  I  approached  the  sovereign, 
who  extended  his  hands  to  me,  and  after  we  had  duly 
executed  our  musafeha,*  I  retired  a  few  paces  and  the 
ceremonial  was  at  an  end.  The  khan  now  began  to 
question  me  respecting  the  object  of  my  journey,  and 
the  impression  made  upon  me  by  the  desert,  the  Tur- 
komans, and  Khiva.  I  replied  that  I  had  suffered 
much,  but  that  my  sufferings  were  now  richly  reward- 
ed by  the  sight  of  the  hazrets  djemal  (beauty  of  his 
majesty).  "I  thank  Allah,"  I  said,  "that  I  have 
been  allowed  to  partake  this  high  happiness,  and 
discern  in  this  special  favor  of  kismet  (fate)  a  good 
prognostic  for  my  journey  to  come."  Although  I 
labored  to  make  use  of  the  Ozbeg  dialect  instead  of 
that  of  Stamboul,  which  was  not  understood  here, 
the  king  was,  nevertheless,  obliged  to  have  much 
translated  for  him.  He  asked  me  how  long  I  pro- 
posed to  stay,  and  if  I  was  provided  with  the  neces- 
sary journey  expenses.  I  replied  that  I  wished  first 
to  visit  the  Sunnite  saints  who  repose  in  the  soil  of 
the  khanat,  and  that  I  should  then  prepare  for  my 
journey  farther  on.  With  respect  to  my  means,  I 
said,  "We  dervishes  do  not  trouble  ourselves  with 
such  trifles.  The  holy  nefes  (breath)  which  my  pir 
(chief  of  my  order)  had  imparted  to  me  for  my  jour- 
ney can  support  me  four  or  five  days  without  any 
nourishment,"  and  that  I  had  no  other  wish  than 

*  Musafeha  is  the  greeting  prescribed  by  the  Koran,  accom- 
panied by  the  reciprocal  extension  of  the  open  hands. 


160  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VIII. 

that  God  would  permit  his  majesty  to  live  a  hundred 
and  twenty  years ! 

My  words  seemed  to  have  given  satisfaction,  for 
his  royal  highness  was  pleased  to  order  that  I  should 
be  presented  with  twenty  ducats  and  a  stout  ass.  I 
declined  the  ducats  with  the  remark  that  for  a  der- 
vish it  was  a  sin  to  keep  money ;  thanked  him,  how- 
ever, warmly  for  the  second  part  of  his  most  gracious 
favor,  but  begged  permission  to  draw  his  attention  to 
the  holy  commandment  which  prescribed  a  white  ass 
for  pilgrimages,  and  entreated  him,  therefore,  to 
vouchsafe  me  such  a  one.  I  was  on  the  point  of 
withdrawing  when  the  khan  desired  that,  at  least 
during  my  short  stay  in  the  capital,  I  should  be  his 
guest,  and  consent  to  take  for  my  daily  board  two 
tenghe  (about  one  franc  and  fifty  centimes)  from  his 
haznadar.  I  thanked  him  heartily,  concluded  by  giv- 
ing my  blessing,  and  withdrew.  I  hurried  home 
through  the  waving  crowds  in  the  forecourt  and  the 
bazar,  while  all  encountered  me  with  the  respectful 
"  Selam  aleikum."  When  I  found  myself  again  alone 
within  the  four  walls  of  my  cell  I  drew  a  long  breath, 
not  a  little  pleased  to  find  that  the  khan,  who  in  ap- 
pearance was  so  fearfully  dissolute,  and  who  presents 
in  every  feature  of  his  countenance  the  real  picture 
of  an  enervated,  imbecile,  and  savage  tyrant,  had  be- 
haved to  me  in  a  manner  so  unexceptionable ;  and 
that,  so  long  as  my  time  permitted,  I  could  now  tra- 
verse the  khanat  in  all  directions  unmolested.  Dur- 
ing the  whole  evening  I  had  floating  before  me  the 
picture  of  the  khan  with  his  deep-set  eyes,  with  his 
chin  thinly  covered  with  hair,  his  white  lips,  and 


Chap.  VIII.  THE  AUTHOR  A  "LION."  IQl 

trembling  voice.  "What  a  happy  fatality,"  I  re- 
peated to  myself,  "that  gloomy  superstition  often 
imposes  limits  to  the  might  and  blood-thirstiness  of 
such  tyrants  !*" 

As  I  proposed  making  extensive  excursions  into 
the  interior,  I  was  desirous  as  far  as  possible  to 
shorten  my  stay  in  the  capital.  What  was  most 
worth  seeing  might  quickly  be  dispatched,  had  not 
repeated  invitations  of  the  khan,  of  the  officials,  and 
of  the  most  distinguished  of  the  mercantile  commu- 
nity, robbed  me  of  so  much  time.  After  it  was  known 
that  I  shared  the  favor  of  royalty,  every  body  want- 
ed to  have  me  as  guest,  and  with  me  all  the  other 
hadjis.  What  a  torture  this  to  me,  to  have  daily  to 
accept  six,  seven,  or  eight  invitations,  and  to  comply 
with  the  usage  by  taking  something  in  every  house. 
My  hair  stands  on  end  at  the  recollection  how  often 
I  was  forced  to  seat  myself,  between  three  and  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  before  sunrise,  opposite  a  co- 
lossal dish  of  rice  swimming  in  the  fat  of  the  sheep- 
tail,  which  I  was  to  assail  as  if  my  stomach  was  emp- 
ty. How,  upon  such  occasions,  I  again  longed  for 
the  dry  unleavened  bread  of  the  desert,  and  how  will- 
ingly I  would  have  exchanged  this  deadly  luxury  for 
wholesome  poverty ! 

In  Central  Asia  it  is  the  practice,  even  on  the  oc- 
casion of  an  ordinary  visit,  to  set  before  you  the  des- 
turkhan  (a  napkin  of  coarse  linen  and  of  a  variety  of 
colors,  for  the  most  part  dirty).  In  this  enough 
bread  is  generally  placed  for  two  persons,  and  the 
guest  is  to  eat  some  pieces  of  this.  "To  be  able  to 
eat  no  more"  is  an  expression  regarded  by  the  Cen- 

L 


162  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Cuap.  VIII. 

tral  Asiatic  as  incredible,  or,  at  least,  as  indicating 
low  breeding.  My  pilgrim  brethren  always  gave; 
brilliant  proofs  of  their  hon  ton.  My  only  wonder  is 
that  they  could  support  the  heavy  pilow,  for  upon 
one  occasion  I  reckoned  that  each  of  them  had  de- 
voured one  pound  of  fat  from  the  tail  of  the  sheep, 
two  pounds  of  rice,  without  taking  any  account  of 
bread,  carrots,  turnips,  and  radishes ;  and  all  this 
washed  down,  without  any  exaggeration,  by  from  fif- 
teen to  twenty  large  soup-plates  full  of  green  tea. 
In  such  heroic  feats  I  was  naturally  a  coward ;  and 
it  was  the  astonishment  of  every  one  that  I,  so  well 
versed  in  books,  should  have  acquired  only  a  half  ac- 
quaintance with  the  requisites  of  polite  breeding ! 

Another  source  of  torment  to  me  not  less  consid- 
erable was  that  of  the  heaux-esprits  of  the  ulemas  of 
the  city  of  Khiva.  These  gentlemen,  Avdio  give  the 
preference  to  Turkey  and  Constantinople  beyond  all 
other  places,  were  desirous  of  receiving  from  me,  the 
standard  of  Turkish  Islamite  learning,  an  explana- 
tion of  many  mesele  (religious  questions).  Oh  !  hoAv 
warm  those  thick-headed  Ozbegs  made  me,  with  their 
colossal  turbans,  when  they  opened  a  conversation 
concerning  the  prescriptions  as  to  the  mode  of  Avash- 
ing  hands,  feet,  face,  and  occiput ;  and  hoAv  a  man 
should,  in  obedience  to  his  holy  religion,  sit,  walk,  lie, 
and  sleep,  etc.  The  sultan  (a  recognized  successor 
of  Mohammed)  and  his  grandees  are  accounted  in 
Khiva  the  practical  examples  of  all  these  important 
laws.  His  majesty  the  Emperor  of  Turkey  is  here 
designated  as  a  Mussulman,  whose  turban  is  at  least 
50  ells  in  length,  whose  beard  extends  below  his 


Chap.  VIII.    THE  TOSIIEBAZ.— TURKOMAN  CUSTOMS.  IQ'^ 

breast,  and  his  robe  to  his  toes.  A  man  might  j^lace 
his  life  in  jeopardy  who  should  assert  the  fact  that 
the  sultan  has  head  and  beard  shaved  a  la  Fiesko, 
and  clothes  made  for  him  at  Paris  by  Dusetoye.  I 
was  often  really  sorry  to  be  unable  to  give  to  these 
people,  often  persons,  very  amiable,  the  satisfactor}' 
explanation  they  seemed  to  require;  and  how,  indeed, 
could  I  have  ventured  upon  such  explanation,  stand- 
ing, as  we  do,  in  such  direct  contrast  and  opposition ! 
The  toshebaz,  or  convent  that  gave  us  shelter,  from 
the  great  reservoir  of  water  and  mosque  which  it  in- 
closes, was  looked  upon  in  the  light  of  a  public  place : 
the  court  consequently  swarmed  always  with  visitors 
of  both  sexes.  The  Ozbeg  in  his  high  round  fur  hat, 
great  thick  boots  of  leather,  walks  about  merely  in  a 
long  shirt,  in  summer  a  favorite  undress.  This  I 
myself  adopted  afterward,  as  I  found  it  was  not  re- 
garded as  indecent,  so  long  as  the  shirt  retained  its 
whiteness,  even  to  appear  with  it  in  the  bazar.  The 
women  wear  lofty  globular  turbans,  consisting  of 
from  fifteen  to  twenty  Russian  kerchiefs.  They  arc 
forced,  striding  along,  in  spite  of  all  the  overpower- 
ing heat,  muffled  in  large  gowns,  and  with  their  coarse 
boots,  to  drag  to  their  houses  heavy  pitchers  full  of 
water.  Ah !  I  see  them  now.  Many  a  time  one  re- 
mains standing  at  my  door,  entreating  for  a  little 
khaki  shifa  (health  dust'^),  or  a  nefes  (holy  breath) 
for  the  real  or  feigned  ill  of  which  she  complains.     I 

*  This  the  pilgrims  bring  back  with  them  from  a  house  in 
Medina,  affirmed  to  have  been  the  Prophet's.  It  is  used  by  the 
believers  of  the  true  faith  as  a  medicine  for  many  different  mala- 
dies. 


1(54  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VIII. 

have  it  not  in  my  heart  to  refuse  these  poor  crea- 
tures, many  of  whom  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to 
the  daughters  of  Germany.  She  cowers  before  my 
door :  I  touch,  moving  my  lips  at  the  same  time  as 
if  in  prayer,  the  suffering  part  of  the  body,  and  after 
having  thrice  breathed  hard  upon  her,  a  deep  sigh  is 
uttered,  and  my  part  is  done.  Many  in  these  cases 
persist  that  they  receive  an  instantaneous  alleviation 
of  their  malady !    ■ 

What  in  Europe  idlers  seek  in  coffee-houses  they 
find  in  Khiva  in  the  courts  of  the  mosques.  These 
have  in  most  cases  a  reservoir  of  water,  and  are 
shaded  hj  the  finest  palms  and  elm-trees.  Although 
at  the  beginnino-  of  June  the  heat  was  here  unusual- 
ly  oppressive,  I  was  nevertheless  forced  to  keep  my 
cell,  although  it  was  without. windows,  for  immediate- 
ly I  issued  forth  and  betook  myself  to  the  inviting 
shade,  I  was  surrounded  by  a  crowd,  and  plagued  to 
death  with  the  most  stupid  inquiries.  One  wanted 
religious  instruction ;  another  asked  if  the  world  of- 
fered elsewhere  places  as  beautiful  as  Khiva ;  a  third 
wished,  once  for  all,  to  receive  authentic  information 
whether  the  great  sultan  really  had  his  each  day^s 
dinner  and  supper  forwarded  to  him  from  Mecca, 
and  whether  they  passed  to  his  palace  from  the 
Kaaba  in  one  minute.  Ah !  if  the  good  Ozbegs 
only  knew  how  much  Chateau  Lafitte  and  Margot 
garnished  the  sovereign''s  table  in  the  reign  of  Abdul 
Medjid ! 

Among  the  acquaintance  made  by  me  here,  under 
the  elm -trees,  an  interesting  one  resulted  from  my 
meeting  with  Hadji  Ismael,  represented  to  me  as  a 


Chap.  VIII.  HADJI  ISMAEL.  165 

Staiiibouli ;  and,  indeed,  so  like  one  in  speech,  de- 
meanor, and  dress,  that  I  was  obliged  to  accept  and 
tenderly  embrace  him  as  iny  countryman !  Hadji 
Ismael  had,  it  seems,  passed  twenty-five  years  in  the 
Turkish  capital,  was  intimate  in  many  good  houses, 
and  asserted  that  he  had  seen  me  in  such  and  such  a 
house,  and  at  such  and  such  a  time.  He  even  in- 
sisted that  it  was  no  effort  for  him  to  remember  my 
father,  who  was  a  mollah,  he  said,  in  Topkhane.*  Far 
from  charging  him  with  impudent  mendacity,  I  as- 
sured him,  on  the  contrary,  that  he  had  himself  left 
a  good  name  behind  him  in  Stamboul,  and  that  ev- 
ery one  awaited  his  return  with  impatience.  Accord- 
ing to  his  account,  Hadji  Ismael  had  carried  on,  on 
the  shore  of  the  Bosphorus,  the  business  of  tutor, 
proprietor  of  baths,  leather-cutter,  caligrajDhist,  chem- 
ist, and,  consequently,  also  of  conjuror.  In  his  na- 
tive city  they  had  a  high  opinion  of  him,  particular- 
ly with  reference  to  his  last-named  capacity ;  he  had 
in  his  house  several  little  apparatuses  for  distillation, 
and  as  he  was  in  the  habit  of  pressing  out  the  oil 
from  leaves,  fruits,  and  other  similar  substances,  it 
is  easy  to  conceive  that  his  countrymen  applied  to 
him  for  a  variety  of  elixirs.  The  maadjun  (decoc- 
tions) used  in  case  of  "impuissance,"  and  favorite 
remedies  in  Turkey  and  Persia,  are  here  in  the  high- 
est consideration.  Hadji  Ismael  had  long  placed  his 
art  at  the  disposal  of  the  khan,  but  his  majesty  had 
neglected  the  requisite  diet,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  he  was  too  weak  to  resist  the  darts  of  the  boy 
god.  Debility  and  gout  naturally  ensued.  The  khan 
*  One  of  the  quarters  of  Constantinoi^le. 


166  TEAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VIII. 

grew  angry  with  the  court  j)hysician,  gave  him  his 
dismissal,  and  named  in  his  place  a  matron  renowned 
for  her  marvelous  success  with  her  patients. 

The  good  woman  had  the  haj^py  idea  to  prescribe 
to  the  sick  khan  five  hundred  doses  of  that  medicine 
said  to  have  worked  such  beneficial  effect  ujDon  the 
renowned  poet -monarch  of  ancient  history.  The 
making  up  of  such  a  prescrijDtion  would  not  be  found 
so  easy  in  Europe,  but  the  provisions  of  the  Khivan 
Constitution  afforded  facilities,  and  the  poor  patient, 
after  having  taken  from  fifty  to  sixty  of  these  pills, 
began  to  observe  that  they  produced  a  directly  con- 
trary effect.  The  evil  counsel  cost  the  counselor  her 
head.  This  had  occurred  not  long  be-fore  our  arri- 
val. The  last  medical  prescription  had  been  the  buf- 
falo milk  already  mentioned.  During  my  stay  in 
Khiva,  the  khan  wanted  to  reinstate  Hadji  Ismael  in 
his  functions  of  conjuror,  doctor,  and  powder-maker ; 
the  latter,  however,  declined  to  resume  them,  an  au- 
dacity which  he  would  have  certainly  paid  for  with 
his  life  had  the  superstitious  monarch  been  courage- 
ous enough  to  go  near  his  wonder-Avorking  subject. 

In  Khiva,  in  the  mean  time,  my  hadji  business 
throve,  both  with  me  and  my  colleagues.  In  this 
place  alone  I  collected  fifteen  ducats.  The  Khivan 
Ozbeg,  although  but  rough-hewn,  is  the  finest  char- 
acter of  Central  Asia,  and  I  may  style  my  sojourn 
among  his  race  here  as  most  agreeable,  were  it  not 
that  the  rivalry  between  the  mehter  and  Shlikrullah 
made  me  incur  some  danger,  the  former  being  always 
disposed,  from  hostility  to  my  introducer,  to  do  me 
harm ;   and  as  he  could  no  longer  question  the  genu- 


Chap.  VIII.     SECOND  INTERVIEW  WITH  THE  KHAN.  167 

ineness  of  my  Turkish  character,  he  began  to  insinu- 
ate to  the  khan  that  I  m  as  only  a  sham  dervish,  prob- 
ably sent  upon  some  secret  mission  by  the  sultan  to 
Bokhara. 

Informed  of  the  progress  of  this  intrigue,  I  was 
not  at  all  astonished,  soon  after  my  first  audience 
with  the  khan,  to  receive  a  second  invitation.  The 
weather  was  intensely  hot.  I  did  not  like  to  be  dis- 
turbed in  my  hour  of  repose,  but  what  I  liked  least 
of  all  was  to  be  obliged  to  cross  the  square  of  the 
castle,  whither  the  prisoners  taken  in  the  campaign 
against  the  Tchaudors  had  been  sent,  and  where  they 
were  to  be  executed.  The  khan,  who  was  numerous- 
ly attended,  told  me  that  he  had  heard  I  was  also 
versed  in  worldly  sciences,  and  possessed  a  beautiful 
florid  insha  (style) ;  he  added  that  I  must  write  him 
a  few  lines  in  Stambouli  fashion,  which  he  would  like 
much  to  see.  Knowino-  that  this  had  been  suo-oested 
by  the  mehter,  who  enjoyed  himself  the  reputation  of 
being  a  caligraphist,  and  had  elicited  the  fact  of  my 
accomplishment  from  the  hadjis,  I  took  the  proffered 
writing  materials  and  wrote  the  following  lines : 

Literally  translated. 
"  Most  Majestic,  Mighty,  Dread  King  and  Sovereign ! 
"Immersed  in  thy  royal  favor,  the  poorest  and  humblest  of 
thy  servants,  keeping  before  his  eyes  (the  Arabian  proverb)* 
that '  all  beautiful  penmen  are  fools,'  has  until  this  day  very  lit- 
tle devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  caligraphy,  and  only  because 
he  calls  to  mind  (a  Persian  proverb)  that  '  every  failing  whicli 
pleases  the  king  is  a  virtue,'  does  he  venture  to  hand  to  him 
most  submissively  these  lines." 

The  extravagant  sublimity  of  the  titles,  which  arc, 
*  Doctores  male  pingunt. 


168  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VIII. 

however,  still  in  use  in  Constantinople,  delighted  the 
khan.  The  mehter  was  too  stupid  to  understand  my 
sarcasm.  I  was  ordered  to  take  a  seat,  and  after 
having  been  offered  tea  and  bread,  the  khan  invited 
me  to  converse  with  him.  The  subject  to-day  was 
exclusively  political.  To  remain  true  to  my  dervish 
character,  I  forced  them  to  press  every  word  out  of 
me.  The  mehter  watched  each  expression,  wishing 
to  see  the  confirmation  of  his  suspicions.  All  his 
trouble  was  fruitless.  The  khan,  after  graciously 
dismissing  me,  ordered  me  to  take  the  money  for  my 
daily  support  from  the  treasurer. 

On  my  saying  that  I  did  not  know  where  he  dwelt, 
they  then  gave  me  a  yasaul  for  escort,  who  had  also 
other  commissions  to  execute ;  and  terrible  indeed  is 
the  recollection  of  the  scenes  to  which  I  was  witness 
in  his  presence.  In  the  last  court  I  found  about 
three  hundred  Tchaudors,  prisoners  of  war,  covered 
with  rags ;  they  were  so  tormented  by  the  dread  of 
their  approaching  fate,  and  by  the  hunger  which  they 
had  endured  several  days,  that  they  looked  as  if  they 
had  just  risen  from  their  graves.  They  were  separa- 
ted into  two  divisions,  namely,  such  as  had  not  yet 
reached  their  fortieth  year,  and  were  to  be  sold  as 
slaves,  or  to  be  made  use  of  as  presents,  and  such  as 
from  their  rank  or  age  were  regarded  as  aksakals 
(graybeards)  or  leaders,  and  Avho  were  to  suffer  the 
punishment  imposed  by  the  khan.  The  former, 
chained  together  by  their  iron  collars  in  numbers  of 
ten  to  fifteen,  were  led  away ;  the  latter  submissively 
awaited  the  punishment  awarded.  They  looked  like 
lambs  in  the  hands  of  their   executioners.     While 


CuAp.  VIII.     HORRIBLE  EXECUTION  OF  PRISONERS.  169 

several  were  led  to  the  gallows  or  the  block,  I  saw 
how,  at  a  sign  from  the  executioner,  eight  aged  men 
placed  themselves  down  on  their  backs  upon  the 
earth.  They  were  then  bound  hand  and  foot,  and 
the  executioner  gouged  out  their  eyes  in  turn,  kneel- 
ing to  do  so  on  the  breast  of  each  poor  wretch  ;  and 
after  every  operation  he  wiped  his  knife,  dripping 
with  blood,  upon  the  white  beard  of  the  hoary  unfor- 
tunate. 

Ah !  cruel  spectacle !  As  each  fearful  act  Avas 
completed,  the  victim  liberated  from  his  bonds,  grop- 
ing around  with  his  hands,  sought  to  gain  his  feet ! 
Some  fell  against  each  other,  head  against  head ;  oth- 
ers sank  powerless  to  the  earth  again,  uttering  low 
groans,  the  memory  of  which  will  make  me  shudder 
as  long  as  I  live. 

However  dreadful  these  details  may  seem  to  the 
reader,  they  must  still  be  told  that  this  cruelty  was 
only  a  retaliation  for  a  no  less  barbarous  act  commit- 
ted by  the  Tchaudors  last  winter  upon  an  Ozbeg  car- 
avan. It  was  a  rich  one,  composed  of  two  thousand 
camels,  which,  on  its  way  from  Orenburg  to  Khiva, 
was  surprised  and  entirely  plundered.  The  Turko- 
mans, greedy  of  booty,  although  they  had  taken  pos- 
session of  stores  of  Russian  merchandise,  desj) oiled 
the  travelers  (for  the  most  part  Khivan  Ozbegs)  of 
their  victuals  and  clothes,  so  that  they  died  in  the 
middle  of  the  desert,  some  of  hunger  and  others  of 
cold ;  only  eight  out  of  sixty  contrived  to  save  their 
lives. 

A  treatment  of  prisoners  such  as  I  have  described 
is  indeed  horrible,  but  it  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  an 


170  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VIII. 

exceptional  case.  In  Khiva,  as  well  as  in  the  whole 
of  Central  Asia,  wanton  crueltj^  is  unknown ;  the 
whole  proceeding  is  regarded  as  perfectly  natural, 
and  usage,  law,  and  religion  all  accord  in  sanctioning 
it.  The  present  Khan  of  Khiva  wanted  to  signalize 
himself  as  a  protector  of  religion,  and  believed  he 
should  succeed  by  punishing  with  the  greatest  severi- 
ty all  offenses  against  it.  To  have  cast  a  look  upon 
a  thickly-veiled  lady' sufficed  for  the  oifender  to  be 
executed  by  the  redjm  according  as  religion  directs. 
The  man  is  hung,  and  the  woman  is  buried  up  to  the 
breast  in  the  earth  near  the  gallows,  and  there  stoned 
to  death.  As  in  Khiva  there  are  no  stones,  they  use 
kesek  (hard  balls  of  earth).  At  the  third  discharge 
the  poor  victim  is  completely  covered  with  dust,  and 
the  body,  dripping  with  blood,  is  horribly  disfigured, 
and  the  death  which  ensues  alone  puts  an  end  to  her 
torture. 

The  khan  has  affixed  the  punishment  of  death  not 
only  to  adultery,  but  to  other  offenses  against  relig- 
ion, so  that  in  the  first  years  of  his  reign  the  ulemas 
were  even  obliged  to  cool  his  religious  zeal ;  still  no 
day  passes  but  some  one  is  led  away  from  an  audi- 
ence with  the  khan,  hearing  first  the  fatal  words  pro- 
nounced which  are  his  doom,  "Alib  barin''  (Away 
with  him). 

I  had  almost  forgotten  to  mention  that  the  yasaul 
led  me  to  the  treasurer  to  receive  the  sum  for  my 
daily  board.  My  claim  was  soon  settled ;  but  this 
personage  was  engaged  in  so  singular  an  occupation 
that  I  must  not  omit  to  particularize  it.  He  was 
assorting  the  khilat  (robes  of  honor)  which  were  to 


Chap.  VIII.  REWARDS  FOR  HUMAN  HEADS.  171 

be  sent  to  the  camp  to  reward  those  who  had  distin- 
guished themselves.  They  consisted  of  about  four 
kinds  of  silken  coats  with  staring  colors,  and  large 
flowers  worked  in  them  in  gold.  I  heard  them  styled 
four-headed,  twelve-headed,  twenty-headed,  and  forty- 
headed  coats.  As  I  could  see  upon  them  no  heads 
at  all,  in  painting  or  embroidery,  I  demanded  the 
reason  of  the  appellation,  and  was  told  that  the 
most  simple  coats  were  a  reward  for  having  cut  oiF 
four  heads  of  enemies,  and  the  most  beautiful  a  rec- 
ompense for  forty  heads,  and  that  they  were  now  be- 
ing forwarded  to  the  camp.  Some  one  proceeded  to 
tell  me  "that  if  this  was  not  a  usage  in  Roum,  I 
ought  to  go  next  morning  to  the  principal  square, 
where  I  should  be  a  witness  of  this  distribution." 
Accordingly,  the  next  morning  I  did  really  see  about 
a  hundred  horsemen  arrive  from  the  camp  covered 
Avith  dust.  Each  of  them  brought  at  least  one  pris- 
oner with  him,  and  among  the  number  children,  and 
women  also,  bound  either  to  the  tail  of  the  horse  or 
to  the  pommel  of  the  saddle ;  besides  all  which,  he 
had  buckled  behind  him  a  large  sack,  containing  the 
heads  of  his  enemies,  the  evidence  of  his  heroic  ex- 
ploits. On  coming  up,  he  handed  over  the  prisoners 
as  presents  to  the  khan,  or  some  other  great  person- 
age, then  loosened  his  sack,  seized  it  by  the  two  low- 
er corners,  as  if  he  were  about  to  empty  potatoes, 
and  there  rolled  the  bearded  or  beardless  heads  be- 
fore the  accountant,  wljo  kicked  them  together  with 
his  feet  until  a  large  heap  was  composed,  consisting 
of  several  hundreds.      Each  hero  had  a  receipt  given 


Chap.viii.        good  times,— EEACH  KUNGRAT.  173 

to  him  for  the  number  of  heads  delivered,  and  a  few 
days  later  came  the  day  of  payment. 

In  spite  of  these  barbarous  usages,  in  spite  of  these 
startling  scenes,  it  was  in  Khiva  and  its  dependent 
provinces  that  I  passed,  in  my  incognito  as  a  dervish, 
the  most  agreeable  days  of  my  whole  journey.  If 
the  hadjis  were  met  by  the  inhabitants  in  a  friendly 
manner,  to  me  they  were  exceedingly  kind.  I  had 
only  to  appear  in  public,  when  passers  by,  without 
any  begging  on  my  part,  absolutely  pelted  me  with 
many  articles  of  attire  and  other  presents.  I  took 
care  never  to  accept  considerable  sums.  I  shared 
these  articles  of  attire  among  my  less  fortunate  breth- 
ren, always  yielding  to  thera  what  was  best  and  hand- 
somest, and  reserving  for  myself,  as  became  a  dervish, 
what  was  poorest  and  least  pretending.  Notwith- 
standing this,  a  great  change  had  taken  place  in  my 
position,  and,  to  avow  it  openly,  I  saw  with  joy  that 
I  was  now  well  furnished  with  a  strong  ass,  with 
money,  clothing,  and  provisions,  and  that  I  was  per- 
fectly equipped  for  my  journey. 

What  happened  to  me  in  my  excursions,  which  ex- 
tended as  far  as  Kungrat,  would  afford  ample  matter 
to  swell  my  book  with  two  additional  chapters. 

In  four  days  and  a  half  going  down  the  Oxus*  I 
reached  Kungrat,  and  the  return  journey  by  land  took 
us  twice  the  time.  The  two  banks,  with  the  excej)- 
tion  of  that  part  of  the  left  one  where,  opposite  to 
Kanli,  rises  the  mountain  Oveis  Karayne,  is  flat,  and, 
on  an  average,  well  cultivated  and  peopled.     Between 

*  The  upward  navigation  of  the  Oxns  from  Kungrat  to  Khiva 
takes  18  days. 


174  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  VIII. 

Kanli  and  Kungrat  there  is  a  desert,  lasting  three 
days'  journey ;  the  opposite  bank,  on  the  contrary, 
particularly  where  the  Karakalpak  dwell,  is  covered 
by  primaeval  forests.  On  my  return  to  Khiva  I 
found  my  friends  tired  of  waiting ;  they  urged  me 
to  quit  Khiva  the  very  next  day,  as  the  heat,  which 
was  increasing  in  intensity,  inspired  just  apprehen- 
sions for  our  journey  to  Bokhara.  I  went  to  take 
my  leave  of  Shtikrullah  Bay,  to  whom,  during  my 
stay  in  Khiva,  I  had  been  under  so  much  obligation. 
I  was  really  deeply  moved  to  see  how  the  excellent 
old  man  tried  to  dissuade  me  from  my  purpose, 
sketching  to  me  the  most  horrible  picture  of  Bokha- 
ra Sherif  (noble  Bokhara).  He  pictured  to  me  the 
policy  of  the  emir  as  suspicious  and  treacherous — a 
policy  not  only  hostile  to  Englishmen,  but  to  all  for- 
eigners; and  then  he  told  me  as  a  great  secret  that  a 
few  years  before  even  an  Osmanli,  sent  by  the  late 
Reshid  Pasha  to  Bokhara  as  a  military  instructor, 
had  been  treacherously  murdered  by  order  of  the 
emir,  when  he  was  desirous,  after  a  stay  of  two  years, 
to  return  to  ^tamboul. 

This  warm  dissuasion  of  Shiikrullah  Bay,  who  at 
first  had  the  most  confident  belief  in  my  dervish 
character,  surprised  me  extremely.  I  began  to  think, 
"this  man,  if  he  is  not  sure  of  my  identity,  still,  hav- 
ing seen  more  of  me,  has  penetrated  my  incognito, 
and  now,  perhaps,  has  some  widely  diiFerent  idea  and 
suspicion."  The  excellent  old  man  had  in  his  youn- 
ger days  been  sent  in  1839  to  Herat  to  Major  Todd, 
and  had  also  been  several  times  to  St.  Petersburg. 
He  had  often,  as  he  told  me,  frequented  in  Constanti- 


Chap.  VIII.  AUTHOR'S  DEPARTURE.  I75 

nople  the  society  of  the  Frenghi,  a  source  of  great 
pleasure  to  him.  What  if,  entertaining  some  idea 
of  our  real  way  of  thinking — of  our  efforts  in  a  scien- 
tific direction — he  had,  from  some  peculiar  feeling  of 
benevolence,  taken  me  under  his  protection  ?  When 
I  bade  him  farewell  I  saw  a  tear  in  his  eye — a  tear, 
who  knows  by  what  feeling  dictated  ? 

To  the  khan  also  I  gave  a  final  blessing.  He  en- 
joined me  to  return  by  Khiva,  for  he  wanted  to  send 
an  envoy  with  me  to  Constantinople,  to  receive  at  the 
hands  of  the  new  sultan  the  usual  investiture  of  his 
khanat.  My  reply  was  "Kismet,"  which  means  that 
it  was  a  sin  to  think  of  the  future.  We  shall  see 
what  fate  had  in  store.  Bidding  farewell  to  all  my 
friends  and  acquaintances,  I  left  Khiva,  after  having 
sojourned  there  nearly  a  month. 


176  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.       Chap.  IX. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

FROM   KHIVA   TO    BOKHARA. 

DEPARTURE  FROM  KHIVA  FOR  BOKHARA. — FERRY  ACROSS  THE  OXTTS. — GREAT 

HEAT. SHURAKHAN. MARKET. SINGULAR    DIALOGUE    WITH    A    KIRGHIS 

WOMAN   ON   NOMADIC    LIFE. TUNUKXU. ALA3IAN  OF  THE    TEKKE. CARA- 
VAN, ALARMED,  RETURNS    TO    TUNUKLU. FORCED    TO    THROW    ITSELF    INTO 

THE    DESERT,   "DESTROYER    OF    LIFE." THIRST. DEATH    OF    CAMELS. 

DEATH   OF  A  HADJI. STORMY  WIND. — PRECARIOUS   STATE    OF  THE    ATJTHOR. 

— HOSPITABLE   RECEPTION   AJIONG   PERSIAN   SLAVES. — FIRST   IMPRESSION   OF 
BOKHARA  THE   NOBLE. 


"£■<  nous  marcMons  a  Vheure  de  midi  iraversant  les  souffles  brulants  et  em- 
pestes  q7ii  mettent  en  fusion  les  fibres  du  cerveau     . 

"Je  vienfonce  dans  ime  plaine  poussiereuse  dont  le  sable  agite  resemble  a  un 
vetement  raye. — Victor  Hugo,  from  Omaiah  ben  Ai'edz. 


At  last,  having  got  all  ready  for  our  journey,  we 
gradually  assembled  in  the  well-shaded  court  of  the 
toshebaz.  I  was  able  that  day,  for  the  first  time, 
fully  to  appreciate  the  influence  that  the  pious  char- 
ity of  the  Khivites  had  exercised  upon  our  mendi- 
cant caravan.  It  was  only  in  the  case  of  the  more 
stingy  that  we  could  discern  any  traces  of  their  for- 
mer rags :  in  the  place  of  the  torn  felt  caps,  worn 
among  the  Yomuts,  my  friends  had  donned  the  snow- 
white  turban ;  all  the  knapsacks  were  better  filled ; 
and  what  was  most  pleasing  to  see  was  that  even  the 
poorest  of  the  pilgrims  had  now  his  small  ass  to  ride 
upon.  My  position  was  greatly  changed,  for  I  had 
the  use  of  an  ass,  and  half  a  share  in  a  camel  too ; 


Chap.  IX.  CHOICE  OF  ROUTES.  I77 

the  former  I  was  to  ride,  the  latter  I  was  to  emplo}- 
for  the  transport  of  my  traveling-bag  containing  my 
clothes  (in  the  strict  plural  sense),  a  few  MSS.  I  had 
purchased,  and  my  provisions.  I  no  longer  carried, 
as  I  had  done  in  the  desert,  merely  black  flour,  but 
white  pogatcha  (small  cakes  baked  in  the  fat  of  mut- 
ton), rice,  butter,  and  even  sugar.  I  still  preferred 
retaining  the  same  dress.  True,  I  had  come  into 
possession  of  a  shirt,  but  I  took  care  not  to  put  it 
on ;  it  might  have  rendered  me  effeminate,  and  it 
was  too  soon  to  indulge  in  any  such  luxury. 

From  Khiva  to  Bokhara  we  had  the  oj^tion  be- 
tween three  routes:  («)  by  Hezaresp  and  Fitnek, 
crossing  the  Oxus  at  Kiikurtli ;  (h)  by  Khanka  and 
Shurakhan  on  its  right  bank,  with  two  days  of  desert 
from  the  Oxus  to  Karakol ;  and  (c)  up  the  river  by 
water,  and  then,  disembarking  at  Eltchig,  proceeding 
through  the  desert  to  Karakol. 

As  we  had  decided  to  go  by  land,  our  kervanbashi's 
tadjik  from  Bokhara,  named  Aymed,  left  it  to  us  to 
choose  between  the  first  two  ways.  We  had,  in  com- 
pany with  a  dealer  in  clothes  from  Khiva,  hired  the 
camels  from  A3^med,  and  the  latter  had  recommend- 
ed us  the  route  by  Khanka  as,  at  this  period  of  the 
year,  the  safest  and  easiest. 

It  was  on  a  Monday,  late  in  the  afternoon,  when 
we  suspended  the  functions  ofconferrers  of  blessings, 
and  extricated  ourselves  from  the  embraces  that  seem- 
ed as  if  they  never  would  end,  and  quitted  Khiva  by 
the  Urgendj  gate.  Many,  whose  zeal  was  transcen- 
dental, ran  for  half  a  league  after  us  ;  their  feeling  of 
devotion  forced  tears  from  their  eyes,  and,  full  of  de- 

M 


178  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  IX. 

spair,  we  heard  them  exclaim,  "Who  knows  when 
Khiva  will  again  have  the  great  good  fortune  to  har- 
bor in  her  walls  so  many  pious  men! "  My  colleagues, 
seated  up  aloft  on  their  camels,  were  not  again  dis- 
turbed ;  but  I,  on  my  ass  below,  was  repeatedly  vis- 
ited with  active  evidence  of  their  friendship,  until  even 
my  steed  could  no  longer  endure  it,  and,  to  my  great 
delight,  galloped  off  with  me,  and  it  was  not  until  I 
was  far  beyond  their  reach  that  I  thought  it  proper 
to  recommend  him  greater  steadiness.  I  was  obliged, 
however,  to  tug  a  long  time  at  the  reins  before  I  could 
induce  my  long-eared  hippogriff  to  change  his  head- 
long career  into  a  more  sober  yet  still  somewhat  rap- 
id trot ;  when  I  sought  to  moderate  this  still  farther, 
he  began  to  show  temper,  and,  for  the  first  time,  emit- 
ted a  distracting  cry,  the  richness,  pliancy,  and  full- 
ness of  which  I  should  have  preferred  criticising  at  a** 
little  farther  distance. 

We  passed  the  first  night  in  Godje,  distant  two 
miles  from  Khiva.  In  spite  of  its  insignificance,  -it 
possesses  a  kalenterkhane  (quarters  for  dervishes) ; 
we  meet  with  such  in  Khiva  and  Khokand,  even  in 
the  smallest  hamlets.  Hence  to  Khanka  we  trav- 
ersed a  country  uninterruptedly  under  cultivation; 
along  the  whole  way  we  saw  excellent  mulberr|&- 
trees ;  and  as  my  ass  continued  of  good  courage,  and 
kept  his  place  in  advance  of  the  caravan,  I  had  time 
in  passing  to  regale  myself  with  berries  as  large  and 
as  thick  as  my  thumb. 

Still  keeping  the  lead,  I  was  the  first  to  reach 
Khanka :  it  was  the  weekly  market.  I  dismounted 
at  the  kalenterkhane,  at  the  farthermost  end  of  the 


CnAi'.  IX.  KEACH  THE  OXUS.  179 

town,  situated  upon  the  bank  of  a  rivulet,  and,  as 
usual,  well  shaded  by  poplar  and  elm  trees. 

I  found  here  two  half-naked  dervishes  on  the  point 
of  swallowing  down  their  noonday  dose  of  opium ; 
they  offered  me  a  little  portion  also,  and  were  aston- 
ished to  find  me  decline.  They  then  prepared  tea  for 
me,  and  while  I  drank  it  they  took  their  own  poison- 
ous opiate,  and  in  half  an  hour  were  in  the  happy 
realms ;  then,  although  I  saw  in  the  features  of  one 
slumberer  traces  of  internal  gladness,  I  detected  in 
those  of  the  other  convulsive  movements  picturing 
the  agony  of  death. 

I  should  have  liked  to  remain,  to  hear  from  their 
own  lips  on  awaking  an  account  of  their  dreams ; 
but  our  caravan  was  just  then  passing,  and  I  was 
obliged  to  join  it ;  for,  as  it  takes  hardly  an  hour  to 
reach  the  banks  of  the  Oxus  from  here,  time  was  im- 
portant if,  as  we  intended,  we  were  to  cross  the  same 
day.  Unluckily  for  us,  this  part  of  the  way  was  very 
bad ;  we  did  not  get  out  of  the  mud  and  marshy 
ground  until  evening  was  drawing  in,  and  we  conse- 
quently determined  to  pass  the  night  in  the  open  air, 
oruthe  bank  of  the  river. 

^he  breadth  of  the  Oxus  was  here  so  great  that 
bftli  banks  were  hardly  distinguishable  at  the  same 
time ;  this  was  probably  owing  to  the  season,  for  its 
waters  were  swollen,  and  covered  a  greater  surface 
from  the  abundant  supplies  it  had  received  in  the 
spring.  Its  yellow  waves  and  tolerably  rapid  cur- 
rent presented  a  spectacle  not  without  interest  to  my 
eye.  The  nearer  bank  is  crowned  far  away  to  the 
liorizon  with  trees  and  with  farms.      One  discovers 


180  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  IX. 

on  the  farther  side  also  of  the  river,  far  in  the  interi- 
or, marks  of  cultivation,  and  toward  the  north  the 
Oveis  Karayne  Mountain  appears  like  a  cloud  sus- 
pended perpendicularly  from  heaven.  The  water  of 
the  Oxus  in  its  proper  bed  is  not  so  drinkable  as  in 
the  canals  and  cuttings,  where  by  its  long  passage  the 
sand  has  had  time  to  settle.  In  this  place  the  water 
grits  under  the  teeth,  just  as  if  j-ou  had  taken  a  bite 
of  a  sand-cake,  and  it  must  be  allowed  to  stand  some 
moments  before  it  can  be  used.  As  for  its  quality 
of  sweetness  and  good  flavor,  the  inhabitants  of 
Turkestan  are  of  opinion  that  there  is  no  river  on  the 
earth  comparable  to  it,  not  even  the  Nile,  Mubarek 
(the  blessed).  At  first  I  thought  that  this  good  fla- 
vor proceeded  rather  from  fancy  wrought  up  to  a  fit 
of  enthusiasm  on  reachino;  its  banks  after  havino^  trav- 
ersed  the  thirsty  waterless  desert.  But  no,  the  idea 
is  founded  on  error ;  and  I  must  admit  myself  that, 
as  far  as  my  experience  of  water  extends,  I  have  nev- 
er found  river  or  source  that  yielded  any  so  precious 
as  that  of  the  Oxus. 

Early  next  morning  we  found  the  ferry.  Here,  at 
Gorlen  Hezaresp,  and  other  places,  the  fords  are  the 
private  property  of  the  government,  and  are  let  to 
private  individuals.  The  latter  dare  to  transport  to 
the  opposite  bank  only  such  strangers  as  have  from 
the  khan  a  petek*  (passport),  which  is  obtained  on 
payment  of  a  small  tax.  The  hadjis  had  one  joint 
passport,  but  I  had  procured  an  extra  one,  which  was 
to  the  following  efl^ect : 

*  Literally,  a  writing. 


182  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  IX. 

Literal  Translation. 
"  It  is  notified  to  the  watchers  of  the  frontiers  and  the  toll-col- 
lectors that  permission  has  been  given  to  the  Hadji  Mollah  Ab- 
dur  Reshid  Effendi,  and  that  no  one  is  to  trouble  him." 

No  objections  had  been  made  to  us  on  the  part  of 
the  police.  The  document  merely  had  this  effect — 
that  we,  as  hadjis,  were  to  pay  nothing  for  being  fer- 
ried over  in  a  boat  belonging  to  the  khan.  The  fer- 
ryman at  first  would  not  understand  it  so,  but  at  last 
he  consented,  finding  himself  obliged,  whether  he  had 
the  feeling  or  not,  to  act  ujDon  the  principle  of  char? 
ity,  and  to  transport  us,  with  our  baggage  and  asses, 
to  the  farther  bank.  We  began  to  cross  at  ten 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  did  not  reach  before  sun- 
set a  lofty  bank  that  leads  on  the  right  to  the  Shu- 
rakhan  Canal.  The  great  river,  projDerly  so  called, 
took  us  half  an  hour  to  pass ;  but  we  were  carried 
by  the  stream  far  down  the  current,  and  before  we 
reached  the  desired  point  through  the  armlets,  now 
up,  now  down,  the  whole  day  passed  away,  and  un- 
der such  a  broiling  heat  as  I  rarely  before  had  expe- 
rienced. In  the  main  stream  it  was  well  enoup-h,  but 
in  the  armlets  at  the  side  we  settled  every  ten  paces 
on  the  sand,  when  men  and  asses  were  forced  to  quit 
the  boat  until  it  was  got  afloat ;  and  when  the  water 
sufficed  to  bear  it,  we  again  embarked.  Be  it  said 
that  the  landing  and  re-embarkation  of  the  asses  was 
a  terrible  labor,  and  particularly  with  respect  to  some 
of  the  obstinate  ones :  these  had  to  be  carried  out 
and  in  like  helpless  babes ;  and  I  laugh  even  now 
when  I  think  how  my  long-legged  friend,  Hadji  Ya- 
koub,  took  his  little  ass  upon  his  back,  held  it  firmly 


Chap.  IX.  AKIiAJVUSH.— SHURAKHAN.  188 

by  the  fore  feet  that  hung  down  upon  his  chest, 
while  the  poor  little  brute,  all  in  a  tremor,  strove  to 
hide  his  head  in  the  neck  of  the  mendicant. 

We  were  obliged  to  wait  a  day  on  the  bank  at  Shu- 
rakhan  until  the  camels  were  brought  over ;  we  then 
set  out,  proceeding  through  the  district  called  Yap- 
kenary  (bank  of  canal),  which  was  cut  up  every 
where  by  canals.  Yapkenary  forms  an  oasis  eight 
miles  long  and  five  or  six  broad.  It  is  tolerably 
well  cultivated.  After  it  begins  the  desert,  whose 
edge,  called  Akkamish,  has  good  pasturage,  and  is 
peopled  by  Kirghis.  At  Akkamish  the  caravan  be- 
gan slowly  to  Avind  along  its  way.  The  kervanbashi, 
with  myself  and  two  others  who  could  depend  upon 
the  pace  of  our  asses,  went  out  of  our  way  to  make 
an  excursion  to  Shurakhan,  and  to  complete  our 
store  of  provisions  at  the  weekly  market  there,  or,  to 
speak  more  plainly,  to  divert  ourselves. 

Shurakhan,  which  is  surrounded  by  a  good  wall 
of  earth,  boasts  only  a  few  houses  for  dwellings,  but 
consists  of  300  shops.  These  are  opened  twice  a 
week,  and  visited  by  the  nomads  and  settlers  of  the 
country  round.  It  is  the  property  of  the  emir-til- 
umera,  or  elder  brother  of  the  khan,  who  has  a  fine 
garden  here.  Leaving  my  companions  to  make  their 
purchases,  I  went  back  to  the  kalenterkhane,  that 
stands  before  the  gate  of  the  town.  I  found  here 
several  dervishes,  who  had  become  as  thin  as  skele- 
tons by  the  fatal  indulgence  in  that  opium  called 
beng  (prepared  fi:'om  flax),  and  the  djers,  and  were 
lying  about  dreadfully  disfigured  upon  tlie  damp 
Sfround  in  their  dark  cells. 


184  TRAVELS  IN  CENTEAL  ASIA.  Cuap.IX. 

When  I  introduced  myself  they  bade  me  welcome, 
and  had  bread  and  fruit  laid  before  me.  I  offered 
money,  but  they  laughed  at  that,  and  they  told  me 
that  several  of  them  had  not,  for  twenty  years,  had 
any  money  in  their  hands.  The  district  maintains 
its  dervishes ;  and  I  saAv,  indeed,  in  the  course  of  the 
day,  many  a  stately  Ozbeg  horseman  arrive,  bringing 
with  him  some  contribution,  but  receiving  in  return 
a  pipe,  out  of  which  he  extracted  his  darling  poison. 
In  Khiva,  beng  is  the  favorite  narcotic ;  and  many 
are  addicted  to  this  vice,  because  indulgence  in  wine 
and  spirituous  liquors  is  forbidden  by  the  Koran,  and 
any  infringement  is  a  sin  punished  by  the  govern- 
ment with  death. 

As  it  grew  late  I  proceeded  to  the  market  to  look 
for  my  friends,  and  it  cost  me  much  labor  to  make 
my  way  through  the  waving  crowd.  All  were  on 
horseback,  sellers  as  Avell  as  buyers;  and  it  was  ex- 
tremely droll  to  see  how  the  Kirghis  women,  with 
their  great  leathern  vessels  full  of  kimis,*  sitting  on 
the  horses,  hold  the  opening  of  the  skin  above  the 
mouth  of  the  customer.  There  is  adroitness  in  both 
parties,  for  very  seldom  do  any  drops  fall  aside. 

I  found  my  fellow-travelers,  and  we  proceeded  to- 
gether to  rejoin  the  caravan,  now  five  leagues  distant. 
The  day  was  intensely  hot ;   but,  happily,  here  and 

*  A  very  acid  drink,  made  of  the  milk  of  the  mare  or  camel, 
for  the  preparation  of  which  the  Kirghis  are  famous.  The  no- 
mads of  Central  Asia  use  it  as  an  intoxicating  beverage,  and  it 
has  the  peculiar  property  of  fattening.  I  tried  it  very  often,  but 
never  could  take  more  than  a  few  drops,  because  the  sharp  acid 
affected  my  mouth  and  set  my  teeth  on  edge. 


CuAP.  IX.  HOSPITALITY.— NOMADIC  LIFE.  185 

there  we  came,  in  spite  of  the  sandiness  of  the  land, 
upon  Kirghis'  tents,  and  I  had  only  to  approach  one 
of  them  for  the  women  to  make  their  appearance  with 
their  skins,  when  a  regular  squabble  arose  among 
them  if  I  did  not  accept  a  drink  from  every  one. 
To  quicken  thus  a  thirsty  traveler  in  the  heat  of 
summer  is  regarded  as  the  supreme  degree  of  hospi- 
tality, and  you  confer  a  kindness  upon  a  Kirghis 
when  you  give  him  an  occasion  to  carry  out  its  laws. 
The  caravan  was  waiting  our  arrival  with  the  great- 
est impatience:  they  were  upon  the  point  of  start- 
ing, as  henceforth  we  began  to  inarch  only  by  night, 
a  great  solace  both  for  us  and  for  the  cattle.  Imme- 
diately upon  our  coming  up  the  move  began,  and 
bewitching  was  the  view  by  the  clear  moonlight  of 
the  caravan  winding  onward,  the  Oxus  rolling  with 
a  dull  sound  on  our  right,  and  the  fearful  desert  of 
Tartary  on  our  left.  The  next  morning  we  encamp- 
ed on  an  elevated  bank  of  the  same  river.  The  dis- 
trict there  bears  the  name  of  Toyeboyun  (camel's 
neck),  probably  from  the  curves  described  by  the 
bank :  it  is  inhabited  in  certain  months  of  the  j^ear 
by  Kirghis.  In  an  interval  of  ten  hours  I  saw  in 
our  neighborhood  three  families  of  them,  who  in  turn 
remained  near  us,  but  at  most  only  three  hours,  when 
they  moved  on  farther.  Nothing  could  give  me  a 
more  vivid  picture  of  nomadic  life ;  and  when  I  af- 
terward questioned  a  Kirghis  woman  respecting  this 
unsettled  mode  of  existence,  she  answered,  laughing- 
ly, "We  shall,  I  am  certain,  never  be  so  indolent  as 
you  mollahs,  and  remain  sitting  days  and  days  in 
one  place !     Man  must  keep  moving;  for,  behold,  sun, 


186  TEAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  IX. 

moon,  stars,  water,  beast,  bird,  fish,  all  are  in  move-' 
ment ;  it  is  but  the  dead  and  the  earth  that  remain 
in  their  place !  '"*  I  was  upon  the  point  of  making 
many  objections  to  the  philosophy  of  this  nomadic 
lady,  when  a  cry  was  heard  from  a  distance,  in  which 
I  could  distinguish  the  word  biiri !  btiri !  (the  wolf, 
the  wolf).  She  hurried  like  lightning  to  the  herd 
that  was  grazing  afar  oiF,  and  her  shouting  had  such 
an  effect  that  this  time  the  wolf  contented  himself 
with  the  fat  tail  of  a  sheep,  and  with  it  took  to  his 
heels.  I  felt  very  disposed  to  ask  her,  as  she  re- 
turned, what  advantages  resulted  from  the  wolf  keep- 
ing "moving,"  but  she  was  too  much  troubled  by  the 
loss  she  had  sustained,  and  I  returned  to  the  caravan. 

Before  sunset  we  started  again,  and  marched  with- 
out stopping  in  the  vicinity  of  the  river.  Its  deep 
banks  are  almost  every  where  overgrown  with  wil- 
lows, gigantic  grass,  and  rushes.  Although  the  way 
between  Khiva  and  Bokhara  had  been  described  to 
me  as  a  frequented  one,  we  had  as  yet,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  frontier  -  watchers  and  the  nomads 
who  were  roaming  about,  not  met  a  single  traveler. 
What,  then,  was  our  astonishment  when,  about  mid- 
night, we  saw  five  horsemen  approaching  at  full 
speed !  These  were  Khivan  merchants,  who  had 
come  hither  from  Bokhara,  by  Karakol,  in  four  days. 
They  communicated  to  us  the  pleasing  intelligence 
that  the  routes  were  quite  safe,  and  told  us,  at  the 
same  time,  that  we  should  meet,  the  day  after  the 
next,  their  caravan,  which  they  had  left  behind  them. 

We  had  heard  on  starting  from  Khiva  that  the 
Tekke   Turkomans,  profiting  by   the    absence   from 


Chap.  IX.  TUNUKLU.  137 

Bokhara  of  the  emir  and  his  army,  were  infesting 
the  approaches  to  the  latter  city,  and  our  kervan- 
bashi  felt  secretly  anxious  on  that  account;  but  what 
we  now  heard  set  his  mind  at  ease.  We  were  in 
hopes  of  reaching  the  end  of  our  journey  in  six  or 
eight  days,  of  which  we  should  have  to  pass  only  two 
without  arriving  at  water — that  is  to  say,  in  the  des- 
ert between  the  Oxus  and  Karakol. 

The  next  morning  we  encamped  at  Tiinuklii,  the 
ruins  of  an  ancient  fortress  on  a  little  hill,  at  the 
foot  of  which  flows  the  Oxus,  and  which  is  itself 
covered  with  the  most  beautiful  verdure.  From  this 
point  there  is  a  way  lying  in  a  northeasterly  direc- 
tion through  the  sandy  desert  of  Khalata  Tcholi, 
otherwise  designated  Djan  Batirdigan""  (life  destroy- 
er), but  which  is  only  frequented  in  winter,  after 
heavy  falls  of  snow,  at  times  when  the  Karakol  route 
is  infested  by  the  Turkomans,  who  at  that  period  of 
the  year,  owing  to  the  freezing  of  the  Oxus,  circulate 
in  every  direction  without  obstacle. 

In  the  mean  time  the  heat  became  more  and  more 
intense,  but  it  did  not  much  aiFect  us,  as  we  reposed 
every  day  on  the  banks  of  a  mighty  river,  full  of 
sweet  water ;  and  what  feelings  of  grateful  gladness 
were  ours  when  we  recollected  Kahriman  Ata,  and 
other  places  in  the  great  desert  between  Khiva  and 
Gomtishtepe.  Unhappily,  we  were  soon  disturbed 
in  our  agreeable  reflections,  and  placed,  by  the  freaks 
of  some  Turkoman  adventurers,  in  a  position  of  dan- 
2:er  such  as  mio-ht  have  brouo;ht  us  all  to  a  terrible 

O  o  O 

*  More  correctly  Batirdurgan,  present  participle  of  the  verb 
batirmak  (destroy). 


188  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  IX. 

end,  had  we  not  been  preserved  by  an  accident  or  fa- 
tality. 

It  was  just  about  daybreak  when  we  met  on  our 
march  two  half- naked  men,  who  from  a  distance 
shouted  out  to  our  caravan.  On  coming  up  to  us 
they  sank  upon  the  ground,  uttering  the  words,  "A 
morsel  of  bread,  a  morsel  of  bread  !'^  I  was  one  of 
the  first  to  tender  them  bread  and  mutton  fat.  After 
eating  a  little,  they  began  to  tell  us  that  they  were 
boatmen  from  Hezaresp,  and  that  they  had  been  rob- 
bed by  a  Tekke  alaman  of  boat,  clothes,  and  bread, 
and  had  been  dismissed  with  life  alone;  that' the  rob- 
bers were  150  in  number,  and  contemplated  a  razzia 
upon  the  herds  of  the  Kirghis  round  about.  "For 
God's  sake,"  said  one  of  them,  "fly  or  conceal  your- 
selves, or  in  a  few  hours  you  will  encounter  them, 
and  in  spite  of  your  all  being  pious  pilgrims,  they 
will  leave  you  behind  in  the  desert,  without  beasts  or 
food,  for  the  Kair,  disbelieving  Tekke,  are  capable  of 
any  thing."  Our  kervanbashi,  who  had  been  already 
twice  robbed,  and  had  had  great  difficulty  in  escaping 
with  his  life,  needed  not  the  counsel ;  scarcely  had  he 
heard  the  words  "Tekke"  and  "alaman"  when  he  in 
all  haste  gave  the  command  to  face  about,  and  began 
the  retreat  with  as  much  rapidity  as  the  poor  heavi- 
ly-laden camels  permitted.  To  attempt  to  fly  with 
these  animals  from  Turkomans  mounted  on  horses 
would  of  course  have  been  the  height  of  folly ;  still, 
according  to  our  calculation,  150  horsemen  could  not 
be  transported  over  the  river  till  the  morning,  and 
while  the  robbers  were  cautiously  proceeding  on  the 
route,  we  might  again  reach  Tuniiklii,  and,  having  re- 


Chap.  IX.  MEASURES  TO  AVOID  CAPTURE.  189 

filled  our  water-skins,  throw  ourselves  into  the  khala- 
ta  (desert),  where  our  destruction  might  not  be  so 
certain.  After  the  most  excessive  exertions,  our 
poor  brutes  arrived  quite  exhausted  before  Tiiniiklu. 
Here  we  were  obliged  to  accord  them  a  little  pasture 
and  repose,  otherwise  it  would  have  been  imjoossible 
to  reach  even  the  first  station  in  the  sand.  We  tar- 
ried on  the  spot,  therefore,  perforce,  tremblingly,  three 
hours,  until  we  had  had  time  to  fill  our  skins,  and  to 
make  preparations  for  the  terrible  journey. 

The  dealer  in  clothes  from  Khiva,  who  had  him- 
self been  once  already  robbed  by  the  Turkomans,  had, 
in  the  mean  time,  persuaded  several  of  the  hadjis — 
those,  I  mean,  who  had  well-filled  sacks,  but  no  com*- 
age — rather  to  hide  themselves  with  him  in  the  tjd- 
derwood  on  the  river's  bank,  than  during  the  saratan 
(dog-days)  to  throw  themselves  into  the  desert,  where 
they  would  be  menaced  not  only  with  death  from 
thirst,  but  with  destruction  from  the  tebbad  (hot 
wind  from  the  east). 

He  painted  the  perils  in  such  lively  terms  that 
many  separated  themselves  from  our  party ;  and  as, 
just  at  that  moment,  an  empty  skiff  appeared  on  the 
river,  and  the  boatmen,  approaching  the  bank  where 
we  were,  offered  to  take  us  to  Hezaresp,  every  one 
began  to  waver,  and  soon  there  remained  only  four- 
teen faithful  to  the  original  plan  of  the  kervanbashi. 
That,  indeed,  was  the  most  critical  moment  of  my 
whole  journey.  To  return  to  Khiva  might,  I  re- 
flected, disturb  the  whole  design  of  my  journey. 
"My  life,  indeed,  is  threatened  every  where — is  ev- 
ery where  in  danger ;  forward,  then,  forward !   better 


190  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  IX. 

to  perish  by  the  fury  of  the  elements  than  by  the 
racks  of  tyrants ! " 

I  remained  with  the  kervanbashi,  as  did  also  Hadji 
Salih  and  Hadji  Bilal.  It  was  a  painful  scene,  that 
parting  from  our  cowardly  fellow-travelers ;  and  be- 
hold, as  the  skiff  was  upon  the  point  of  putting  off, 
our  friends  already  on  board  proposed  a  fal.* 

The  pebbles,  indicating  the  number  of  verses  to  be 
read,  were  shared  among  us,  and  hardly  had  Hadji 
Salih,  with  the  eye  of  experience,  ascertained  the  re- 
sult, when  nearly  all  the  hadjis,  abandoning  the  skiff, 
came  back  to  us,  and  as  every  thing  was  at  hand,  to 
prevent  farther  hesitation  and  wavering,  the  impulse 
was  at  once  obeyed,  and  we  started.  The  sun  had 
n(jt  yet  set  when  we  found  ourselves  already  on  the 
way  to  the  khalata,  diverging  sideways  from  the  ruins 
of  Tiiniiklu. 

It  is  easy  to  imagine  what  mood  we  were  in,  I  and 
my  companions,  already  so  well  acquainted  with  the 
terrors  of  the  desert.  From  Gomiishtepe  to  Khiva 
we  had  been  in  the  month  of  May ;  we  were  now  in 
July.  Then  we  had  had  rain-water ;  but  here  there 
was  not  a  single  source  that  could  be  turned  to  ac- 
count. With  unutterable  regret  our  eyes  rested  on 
the  Oxus,  that  became  more  and  more  remote,  and 
shone  doubly  beautiful  in  the  last  beams  of  the  de- 
parting sun.  Even  the  camels,  who  before  we  start- 
ed had  drank  abundantly,  kept  their  eyes,  so  full  of 
expression,  for  a  long,  long  time  turned  in  the  same 
direction. 

*  Fal  (prognostic)  is  where  one  opens  either  the  Koran  or 
any  other  religious  book  at  random,  and  seeks  on  the  page  be- 
fore him  a  passage  appropriate  to  his  wish. 


Chap.  IX.  MARCH  THROUGH  THE  DESERT.  191 

A  few  stars  began  to  gleam  in  the  heavens  when 
we  reached  the  sandy  desert.  We  maintained  the 
stillness  of  death  during  our  march,  in  order  that  we 
might  escape  the  notice  of  the  Turkomans  probably 
then  in  our  vicinity.  They  might  perhaps  not  see 
us  on  account  of  the  darkness  of  the  night,  the  moon 
not  rising  till  later.  We  wishedfclso  that  no  sound 
might  betray  our  position  to  them.  On  the  soft 
ground  the  tread  of  the  camels  produced  no  echo. 
We  feared,  however,  that  some  freak  of  braying  might 
occur  to  our  asses,  for  their  voices  would  echo  far 
and  wide  in  the  still  night.  Toward  midnight  we 
reached  a  place  where  we  were  all  obliged  to  dis- 
mount, as  both  asses  and  camels  were  sinking  down 
to  their  knees  in  the  fine  sand.  This,  indeed,  formed 
there  an  uninterrupted  chain  of  little  hills.  In  the 
cool  night-march  I  could  just  manage  to  tramp  on 
through  this  endless  sand,  but  toward  morning  I  felt 
my  hand  beginning  to  swell  from  continually  resting 
upon  my  staff.  I  consequently  placed  my  baggage 
on  the  ass,  and  took  its  place  upon  the  camel,  which, 
although  breathing  hard,  was  still  more  in  his  ele- 
ment in  the  sand  than  I  with  my  lame  leg. 

Our  morning  station  bore  the  charming  appella- 
tion of  Adamkyrylgan  (which  means  "the  place 
where  men  perish''),  and  one  needed  only  to  cast  a 
look  at  the  horizon  to  convince  himself  how  appro- 
priate is  that  name.  Let  the  reader  picture  to  him- 
self a  sea  of  sand,  extending  as  far  as  eye  can  reach, 
on  one  side  formed  into  hio-h  hills,  like  waves  lashed 
into  that  position  by  the  furious  storm ;  on  the  oth- 
er side,  again,  like  the  smooth  waters  of  a  still  lake, 


192  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  IX. 

merely  rippled  by  the  west  wind.  Not  a  bird  visi- 
ble in  the  air,  not  a  worm  or  beetle  upon  the  earth ; 
traces  of  nothing  but  departed  life,  in  the  bleaching 
bones  of  man  or  beast  that  has  perished,  collected  by 
every  passer-by  in  a  heap,  to  serve  to  guide  the  march 
of  future  travelers !  Why  add  that  we  moved  on 
unnoticed  by  the  'pirkomans?  The  man  does  not 
exist  on  earth  that  could  make  a  station  here  on 
horseback ;  but  whether  the  elements  would  not  op- 
pose our  progress  was  a  point  the  consideration  of 
which  shook  even  the  sangfroid  of  the  Oriental,  and 
the  sombre  looks  of  my  fellow-travelers  during  the 
whole  way  best  betrayed  their  anxiety. 

According  to  what  the  kervanbashi  told  us,  we 
should  have  had  altogether  on  this  way,  from  Tuniik- 
lii  to  Bokhara,  only  six  days'*  journey,  half  through 
sand,  the  rest  over  firm  and  even  ground,  where  here 
and  there  grass  is  met  with  and  shepherds  resort. 
Consequently,  after  the  examination  of  our  skins,  we 
calculated  that  we  should  only  have  to  apprehend  a 
deficiency  of  water  during  one  day  and  a  half;  but 
the  very  first  day  I  remarked  that  the  Oxus  water 
did  not  bear  out  our  calculations ;  that  that  most 
precious  liquid,  although  we  made  a  most  sparing  use 
of  it,  diminished  every  moment,  either  from  the  heat 
of  the  sun,  its  own  evaporation,  or  some  such  cause. 
This  discovery  made  me  watch  my  stores  with  double 
carefulness ;  in  this  I  was  imitated  by  the  others, 
and,  in  spite  of  our  anxiety,  it  was  even  comical  to 
see  how  the  slumberers  slept,  firmly  embracing  their 
water  vessels. 

Notwithstanding   the    scorching    heat,    we    were 


Chap.  IX.  TORMENTS  FROM  THHiST.  I93 

obliged  to  make,  during  the  day  also,  marches  of  from 
five  to  six  hours'  duration,  for  the  sooner  we  emerged 
from  the  region  of  sand,  the  less  occasion  we  had  to 
dread  the  dangerous  wind  tebbad  f'  for  on  the  firm 
plain  it  can  but  bring  with  it  the  torture  of  fever, 
whereas  in  the  region  of  sand  it  can  in  a  moment 
bury  every  thing.  The  strength  of  the  poor  camels 
was  taxed  too  far ;  they  entered  the  desert  wearied 
by  their  nocturnal  journey ;  it  was  not,  therefore, 
surprising  that  some  fell  ill  through  the  torments  of 
the  sand  and  the  heat,  and  that  two  died  even  at  this 
day's  station.  It  bears  the  name  of  Shorkutuk. 
This  word  signifies  salt  fountain,  and  one,  in  fact,  is 
said  to  exist  here,  adequate  for  the  refreshment  of 
beasts,  but  it  was  entirely  choked  up  by  the  stormy 
wind,  and  a  day's  labor  would  have  been  necessary  to 
render  it  again  serviceable. 

But,  let  alone  the  tebbad,  the  oppressive  heat  by 
day  had  already  left  us  without  strength,  and  two  of 
our  poorer  companions,  forced  to  tramp  on  foot  by 
the  side  of  their  feeble  beasts,  having  exhausted  all 
their  water,  fell  so  sick  that  we  were  forced  to  bind 
them  at  full  length  upon  the  camels,  as  they  were 
]3erfectly  incapable  of  riding  or  sitting.  We  covered 
them,  and  as  long  as  they  were  able  to  articulate  they 
kept  exclaiming  "Water!  water!"  the  only  words 
that  escaped  their  lips.  Alas !  even  their  best  friends 
denied  them  the  life-dispensing  draught ;  and  when 
we,  on  the  fourth  day,  reached  Medeniin  Bulag,  one 
of  them  was  freed  by  death  from  the  dreadful  tor- 
ments of  thirst.  It  was  one  of  the  three  brothers 
*  Tebbad,  a  Persian  word  signifying /ewer  wind. 

N 


19-1  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  IX. 

who  had  lost  their  father  at  Mecca.  I  was  present 
when  the  unfortunate  man  drcAV  his  last  breath.  His 
tongue  was  quite  black,  the  roof  of  his  mouth  of  a 
grayish  white ;  in  other  respects  his  features  were 
not  much  disfigured,  except  that  his  lips  were  shriv- 
eled, the  teeth  exposed,  and  the  mouth  open.  I 
doubt  much  whether,  in  these  extreme  sufferings,  wa- 
ter would  have  been  of  service ;  but  who  was  there 
to  give  it  to  him  ? 

It  was  a  horrible  sight  to  see  the  father  hide  his 
store  of  water  from  the  son,  and  brother  from  broth- 
er ;  each  droj)  is  life  ;  and  when  men  feel  the  torture 
of  thirst,  there  is  not,  as  in  the  other  dangers  of  life, 
any  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  or  any  feeling  of  generosity. 

We  passed  three  days  in  the  sandy  parts  of  the 
desert.  We  had  now  to  gain  the  firm  plain,  and 
come  in  sight  of  the  Khalata  Mountain,  that  stretch- 
es away  toward  the  north.  Unhappily,  disappoint- 
ment again  awaited  us.  Our  beasts  were  incapable 
of  farther  exertion,  and  we  passed  a  fourth  day  in  the 
sand.  I  had  still  left  about  six  glasses  of  water  in 
my  leathern  bottle.  These  I  drank  drop  by  drop, 
suffering,  of  course,  terribly  from  thirst.  Greatly 
alarmed  to  find  that  my  tongue  began  to  turn  a  little 
black  in  the  centre,  I  immediately  drank  off  at  a 
draught  half  of  my  remaining  store,  thinking  so  to 
save  my  life ;  but  oh !  the  burning  sensation,  fol- 
lowed by  headache,  became  more  violent  toward  the 
morning  of  the  fifth  day ;  and  when  we  could  just 
distinguish,  about  midday,  the  Khalata  Mountains 
from  the  clouds  that  surrounded  them,  I  felt  my 
strength  gradually  abandon  me.     The  nearer  we  ap- 


CuAP.  IX.  THE  TEBBAD.  195 

proached  the  mountains  the  thinner  the  sand  became, 
and  all  eyes  were  searching  eagerly  to  discover  a 
drove  of  cattle  or  shepherd's  hut,  when  the  kervan- 
bashi  and  his  people  drew  our  attention  to  a  cloud 
of  dust  that  was  approaching,  and  told  us  to  lose  no 
time  in  dismounting  from  the  camels.  These  poor 
brutes  knew  well  enough  that  it  was  the  tebbad  that 
was  hurrying  on ;  uttering  a  loud  cry,  they  fell  on 
their  knees,  stretched  their  long  necks  along  the 
ground,  and  strove  to  bury  their  heads  in  the  sand. 
We  intrenched  ourselves  behind  them,  lying  there  as 
behind  a  wall  (see  next  page) ;  and  scarcely  had  we, 
in  our  turn,  knelt  under  their  cover,  than  the  wind 
rushed  over  us  wdth  a  dull,  clattering  sound,  leaving 
us,  in  its  passage,  covered  with  a  crust  of  sand  two 
fingers  thick.  The  first  particles  that  touched  me 
seemed  to  burn  like  a  rain  of  flakes  of  fire.  Had  we 
encountered  it  when  we  were  six  miles  deeper  in  the 
desert,  we  should  all  have  perished.  I  had  not  time 
to  make  observations  upon  the  disposition  to  fever 
and  vomiting  caused  by  the  wind  itself,  but  the  air 
became  heavier  and  more  oppressive  than  before. 

Where  the  sand  comes  entirely  to  an  end,  three 
different  ways  are  visible:  the  first  (22  miles  long) 
passes  by  Karakol ;  the  second  (18  miles)  through 
the  plain  to  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Bokhara ;  the 
third  (20  miles)  traverses  the  mountains  where  water 
is  to  be  met  with,  but  it  is  inaccessible  to  camels  on 
account  of  its  occasional  steepness.  We  took,  as  it 
had  been  previously  determined,  the  middle  route, 
the  shortest,  particularly  as  we  were  animated  by  the 
hope  of  finding  water  among  those  who  tended  their 


'  ■    I!,' 


Chap.  IX.  KINDNESS  OF  PERSIAN  SLAVES.  I97 

flocks  there.  Toward  evening  we  reached  fountains 
that  had  not  yet  been  visited  this  year  by  the  shep- 
herds ;  the  water,  undrinkable  by  man,  still  refreshed 
our  beasts.  We  were  ourselves  all  very  ill,  like  men 
half  dead,  without  any  animation  but  that  which  pro- 
ceeded from  the  now  well-grounded  hope  that  we 
should  all  be  saved ! 

I  was  no  longer  able  to  dismount  without  assist- 
ance ;  they  laid  me  upon  the  ground ;  a  fearful  fire 
seemed  to  burn  my  entrails ;  my  headache  reduced 
me  almost  to  a  state  of  stupefaction.  My  pen  is  too 
feeble  to  furnish  even  a  slight  sketch  of  the  martyr- 
dom that  thirst  occasions  ;  I  think  that  no  death  can 
be  more  painful.  Although  I  have  found  myself 
able  to  nerve  myself  to  face  all  other  perils,  here  I 
felt  quite  broken.  I  thought,  indeed,  that  I  had 
reached  the  end  of  my  life.  Toward  midnight  we 
started.  I  fell  asleep,  and  on  awaking  in  the  morn- 
ing found  myself  in  a  mud  hut,  surrounded  by  people 
with  long  beards  ;  in  these  I  immediately  recognized 
children  of  "Iran."  They  said  to  me,  "  Shuma  ki 
hadji  nistid''  (You,  certainly,  are  no  hadji).  I  had  no 
strength  to  reply.  They  at  first  gave  me  something 
warm  to  drink,  and  a  little  afterward  some  sour  milk, 
mixed  with  water  and  salt,  called  here  "airan  :"  that 
gave  me  strength  and  set  me  up  again. 

I  now  first  became  aware  that  I  and  my  other  fel- 
low-travelers  were   the  quests   of  several  Persian 

o 

slaves,  who  had  been  sent  hither  in  the  middle  of  the 
wilderness,  at  a  distance  of  ten  miles  from  Bokhara, 
to  tend  sheep ;  they  had  received  from  their  owners 
only  a  scanty  supply  of  bread  and  water,  so  that  they 


198  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  IX. 

might  find  it  impossible  to  make  such  a  provision 
as  should  help  them  to  flee  away  through  the  wilder- 
ness. And  yet  these  unfortunate  exiles  had  had  the 
magnanimity  to  share  their  store  of  Avater  with  their 
arch-enemies,  the  Sunnite  mollahs!  To  me  they 
showed  peculiar  kindness,  as  I  addressed  them  in 
their  mother  tongue.  Persian,  it  is  true,  is  spoken 
also  in  Bokhara,  but  the  Persian  of  the  Irani  is  dif- 
ferent from  the  former. 

I  was  much  touched  to  see  among  them  a  child 
five  years  old,  also  a  slave,  of  great  intelligence.  He 
had  been,  two  years  before,  captured  and  sold  with 
his  father.  When  I  questioned  him  about  the  latter, 
he  answered  me  confidingly.  "Yes,  my  father  has 
bought  himself  (meaning  paid  his  own  ransom) ;  at 
longest  I  shall  only  be  a  slave  two  years,  for  by  that 
time  my  father  will  have  spared  the  necessary  mon- 
ey." The  poor  child  had  on  him  hardly  any  thing 
but  a  few  rags  to  cover  his  weak  little  body ;  his  skin 
was  of  the  hardness  and  color  of  leather.  I  gave  him 
one  of  my  own  articles  of  attire,  and  he  promised  me 
to  have  a  dress  made  out  of  it  for  himself. 

The  unhappy  Persians  gave  us,  besides,  a  little  wa- 
ter to  take  with  us.  I  left  them  with  a  mixed  feel- 
ing of  gratitude  and  compassion.  We  started  with 
the  intention  of  making  our  next  station  at  Khodja 
Oban,  a  place  to  which  pilgrims  resort  to  visit  the 
crave  of  a  saint  of  the  same  name :  it  was,  indeed, 
out  of  our  road,  lying  a  little  to  the  north ;  still,  as 
hadjis,  we  were  bound  to  proceed  thither.  To  the 
o-reat  regret  of  my  companions,  we  lost  our  way  at 
night  between  the  hills  of  sand  that  are  on  the  mar- 


Chap.  IX.  REACH  KHAKEMIR.— EXAMINATION.  199 

gin  of  the  desert,  and  out  of  the  middle  of  which 
Khodja  Oban  projects  like  an  oasis ;  and  when,  aft- 
er a  long  search,  the  day  broke,  we  found  ourselves 
on  the  bank  of  a  lake  full  of  sweet  water.  Here 
terminated  the  desert,  and  with  it  the  fear  of  a  death 
from  thirst,  robbers,  wind,  or  other  hardships.  We 
had  now  come  positively  to  the  frontiers  of  Bokhara, 
properly  so  called ;  and  when,  after  two  leagues' 
journey,  we  reached  Khakemir  (the  village  where  the 
kervanbashi  resided),  we  found  ourselves  already  in 
the  middle  of  a  country  tolerably  well  cultivated. 
The  whole  district  is  watered  by  canals  connected 
with  the  River  Zerefshan. 

In  Khakemir  there  are  but  200  houses.  It  is  only 
two  leagues  distant  from  Bokhara.  We  were  oblig-ed 
to  pass  the  night  here,  that  the  tax-collector  (Badj- 
ghir)  and  reporter  (vakaniivisz),  informed  of  our  ar- 
rival in  accordance  with  the  laAv,  might  be  in  a  posi- 
tion to  complete  their  report  of  search  and  examina- 
tion outside  the  city. 

The  very  same  day  a  messenger  went  express,  and 
the  following  one,  very  early  in  the  morning,  arrived 
three  of  the  emir's  officers,  with  faces  full  of  official 
dignity  and  importance,  to  levy  upon  us  the  imposts 
and  duties,  but  more  esj)ecially  to  learn  tidings  con- 
cerning the  adjoining  countries.  They  first  began  to 
overhaul  our  baggage.  The  hadjis  had,  for  the  most 
part,  in  their  knapsacks  holy  beads  from  Mecca,  dates 
from  Medina,  combs  from  Persia,  and  knives,  scissors, 
thimbles,  and  small  looking-glasses  from  Frenghis- 
tan.  And  although  my  friends  declared  that  the 
emir,  "God  grant  him  to  live  120  years, "  w^ould  nev- 


200  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  IX. 

er  take  any  customs  from  hadjis,  the  collector  did  not 
in  the  slightest  degree  allow  himself  to  be  diverted 
from  his  functions,  but  wrote  down  each  article  sep- 
arately. I  remained,  with  two  other  mendicants,  to 
the  last.  When  the  official  looked  at  my  face  he 
laughed,  told  me  to  show  my  trunk,  "for  that  we'' 
(meaning,  probably,  Europeans,  as  he  took  me  for 
one)  "had  always  fine  things  with  us."  I  happened 
to  be  in  excellent  humor,  and  had  on  my  dervish  or 
fool's  cap.  I  interrupted  the  cunning  Bokhariot, 
saying  "that  I  had,  in  effect,  some  beautiful  things, 
which  he  would  see  himself  when  he  came  to  exam- 
ine my  property,  movable  and  immovable."  As  he 
insisted  upon  seeing  every  thing,  I  ran  into  the 
court,  fetched  my  ass,  and  led  it  to  him  up  the  stairs 
and  over  the  carpets  into  the  room ;  and  after  hav- 
ing introduced  it,  amid  the  loud  laughter  of  my  com- 
panions, I  lost  no  time  in  opening  my  knapsack,  and 
then  showed  him  the  few  rags  and  old  books  which 
I  had  collected  in  Khiva.  The  disapjDointed  Bok- 
hariot looked  round  him  in  astonishment,  demanding 
if  I  really  had  nothing  more.  Whereupon  Hadji 
Salih  gave  him  explanations  as  to  my  rank,  my  char- 
acter, as  well  as  the  object  I  had  in  view  in  my  jour- 
ney, all  of  which  he  noted  down  carefully,  accom- 
panying the  act  with  a  look  at  me  and  a  shake  of  the 
head  full  of  meanino;.  When  the  collector  had  fin- 
ished  with  us,  the  functions  of  the  vakanlivisz  (wri- 
ter of  events)  began.  He  first  took  down  the  name 
of^each  traveler,  with  a  detailed  description  of  his 
person,  and  then  whatever  information  or  news  each 
might  have  it  in  his  power  to  give.     What  a  ridicu- 


Chap.  IX.    BOKHARA  SHERIF.— CROSS  THE  ZEREFSHAN.        201 

lous  proceeding — a  long  string  of  questions  respect- 
ing Khiva,  a  land  of  kindred  language,  origin,  and 
religion  with  Bokhara ;  their  frontiers  having  been 
for  centuries  and  centuries  coterminous,  and  their 
capitals  lying  only  a  few  days' journey  distant  from 
each  other. 

Every  thing  was  in  order,  only  some  difference  of 
opinion  arose  as  to  the  quarter  in  the  capital  where 
we  should  first  put  up.  The  collector  proposed  the 
custom-house,  hoping,  at  least,  there  to  be  able  to 
squeeze  something  out  of  us,  or  to  subject  me  to  a 
stricter  examination.  Hadji  Salih  (for  the  latter, 
possessing  much  influence  in  Bokhara,  now  took  the 
lead  in  the  caravan)  declared,  on  the  contrary,  his 
purpose  to  put  up  in  the  tekkie ;  and  we  started  at 
once  from  Khakemir,  and  had  only  proceeded  half 
an  hour  through  a  country  resplendent  with  gardens 
and  cultivated  fields,  when  Bokhara  Sherif  (the  no- 
ble, as  the  Central  Asiatics  designate  it)  appeared  in 
view,  with,  among  some  other  buildings,  its  clumsy 
towers,  crowned,  almost  without  exception,  by  nests 
of  storks.* 

At  the  distance  of  about  a  leas-ue  and  a  half  from 
the  city  we  crossed  the  Zerefshan.  It  flows  in  a 
southerly  direction,  and,  although  its  current  is  toler- 
ably strong,  is  fordable  by  camels  and  horses.      On 

*  In  Khiva  nightingales  abound,  but  there  are  no  storks ;  the 
reverse  is  the  case  at  Bokhara,  in  which  there  is  not  a  single 
tower  or  other  elevated  building  where  we  do  not  see  birds  of 
the  last-named  description,  sitting,  like  single-legged  sentinels, 
upon  the  roofs.  The  Khivite  mocks  the  Bokhariot  upon  this 
subject,  saying, "  Thy  nightingale  song  is  the  bill-clapping  of  the 
stork." 


202  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  IX. 

the  opposite  side  was  still  visible  the  tete  du  pont  of 
a  once  handsomely-built  stone  bridge.  Close  to  it 
stood  the  ruins  of  a  palace,  also  of  stone.  I  was  told 
that  it  was  the  work  of  the  renowned  Abdullah  Khan 
Sheibani.  Taken  altogether,  there  are,  in  the  imme- 
diate environs  of  the  capital  of  Central  Asia,  few  re- 
mains of  her  former  grandeur. 


Chap.  X.  BOKHARA.  203 


CHAPTER  X. 


BOKHARA.  —  RECEPTION    AT    THE    TEKKIE,   THE    CHIEF    NEST    OF    ISLAMISM. — 
RAHMET  BI. — BAZARS. — BAHA-ED-DIN,  GREAT    SAINT   OF   TURKESTAN. — SPIES 

SET    UPON    THE    AUTHOR. FATE     OF    RECENT    TRAVELERS    IN    BOKHARA. — 

BOOK    BAZAR. THE    WORM    (rISHTe). WATER    SUPPLY. — LATE    AND    PRES- 
ENT    EMIRS.  HAREM,    GOVERNMENT,    FAMILY     OP     THE     REIGNING     EMIR. 

SLAVE  DEPOT  AND  TRADE. — DEPARTURE  FROM  BOKHARA,  AND  VISIT  TO   THE 
TOMB  OF   BAHA-ED-DIN, 


"Within  earth's  wide  domains 
Are  markets  for  men's  lives  ; 
Their  necks  are  galled  luith  chains, 
Their  tcrists  are  cramped  with  gyves. 

"Dead  bodies,  that  the  kite 
In  deserts  makes  its  prey ; 
Murders  that  with  affright 

Scare  school-hoys  from  their  play .'" — Longfellow. 


The  road  led  us  to  the  Dervaze  Imam,  situated  to 
the  west,  but  we  did  not  pass  through  it,  because,  as 
our  tekkie  lay  to  the  northeast,  we  should  have  been 
forced  to  make  our  way  through  all  the  throngs  in 
the  bazar.  We  preferred,  therefore,  to  take  a  circui- 
tous route  along  the  city  wall.  This  we  found,  in 
many  places,  in  a  ruinous  state.  Entering  by  the 
gate  called  Dervaze  Mezar,  we  speedily  reached  the 
spacious  tekkie.  It  was  planted  with  fine  trees, 
formed  a  regular  square,  and  had  forty-eight  cells  on 
the  ground  floor.  The  present  khalfa  (principal)  is 
grandson  of  Khalfa  Hiisein,  renowned  for  his  sanc- 
tity, and  the  tekkie  itself  is  named  after  him.     The 


204  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  X. 

estimation  in  which  his  family  stands  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  his  relative  above  mentioned  is  imam 
and  khatib  (court  priest)  of  the  emir,  an  official  posi- 
tion which  made  me  not  a  little  proud  of  my  host. 
Hadji  Salih,  who  was  a  miirid  (disciple)  of  the  saint, 
and  was  consequently  regarded  as  a  member  of  the 
family,  presented  me.  The  respectable  "abbot,"  a 
man  of  gentle  demeanor  and  agreeable  exterior, 
whom  his  snow-white  turban  and  summer  dress  of 
fine  silk  well  became,  received  me  in  the  warmest 
manner,  and,  as  I  maintained  for  half  an  hour  a  con- 
versation couched  in  tumid  and  far-fetched  language, 
the  good  man  was  overjoyed,  and  regretted  that  the 
badewlet*  (his  majesty  the  emir)  was  not  in  Bokhara, 
that  he  might  immediately  present  me. 

He  assigned  me  a  cell  to  myself  in  the  place  of 
honor,  that  is,  where  I  had  as  neighbors  on  one  side 
a  very  learned  mollah,  and  on  the  other  Hadji  Salih  : 
this  establishment  was  filled  with  personages  of  ce- 
lebrity. I  had  fallen,  without  having  remarked  it, 
upon  the  chief  nest  of  Islamite  fanaticism  in  Bokha- 
ra. The  locality  itself,  if  I  could  but  accommodate 
myself  to  its  spirit,  might  turn  out  the  best  and  safest 
guarantee  against  all  suspicions,  and  save  me  all  dis- 
agreeable scenes  with  the  civil  authorities.  The  re- 
porter had  returned  my  arrival  as  an  event  of  import- 
ance ;  the  first  officer  of  the  emir,  Rahmet  Bi,  who 
during  his  master's  campaign  in  Khokand  command- 
ed in  Bokhara,  had  directed  that  the  hadjis  should, 
that  very  day,  be  questioned  concerning  me ;  but  in 
the  tekkie  the  emir's  orders  Avere  inoperative,  and  so 
*  Badewlet  means  properly  "  the  prosperous  one.'" 


Chap.  X.  ESPIONAGE.— BAZARS.  205 

little  respect  was  entertained  for  the  investigation 
that  no  communication  at  all  was  made  to  me  on  the 
subject.  My  good  friends  replied  in  the  following 
manner  to  the  doubts  of  laymen:  "Hadji  Keshid  is 
not  only  a  good  Mussulman,  but,  at  the  same  time,  a 
learned  mollah ;  to  have  any  suspicion  of  him  is  a 
mortal  sin."  But,  in  the  mean  time,  they  advised 
me  how  I  was  to  act,  and  it  is  solely  to  their  coun- 
sels and  invaluable  suggestions  that  I  can  ascribe 
my  having  entirely  escaped  mishap  in  Bokhara ;  for, 
not  to  mention  the  sad  ends  of  those  travelers  who 
preceded  me  to  this  city,  I  have  found  it  a  most  per- 
ilous place,  not  only  for  all  Europeans,  but  for  every 
stranger,  because  the  government  has  carried  the  sys- 
tem of  espionage  to  just  as  high  a  pitch  of  perfec- 
tion as  the  population  has  attained  pre-eminence  in 
every  kind  of  profligacy  and  wickedness. 

I  went  next  morning,  accompanied  by  Hadji  Salih 
and  four  others  of  our  friends,  to  view  the  city  and 
the  bazars ;  and  although  the  wretchedness  of  the 
streets  and  houses  far  exceeded  that  of  the  meanest 
habitations  in  Persian  cities,  and  the  dust,  a  foot 
deep,  gave  but  an  ignoble  idea  of  the  "noble  Bokha- 
ra," I  was  nevertheless  astonished  when  I  found  my- 
self for  the  first  time  in  the  bazar,  and  in  the  middle 
of  its  waving  crowd. 

These  establishments  in  Bokhara  are  indeed  far 
from  splendid  and  magnificent,  like  those  of  Teheran, 
Tabris,  and  Ispahan ;  but  still,  by  the  strange  and  di- 
versified intermixture  of  races,  dresses,  and  customs, 
they  present  a  very  striking  sjDectacle  to  the  eye  of  a 
stranjTjer.     In  the  movino;  multitude  most  bear  the 


206  TKAVELS  m  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  X. 

type  of  Iran,  and  have  their  heads  surmounted  by  a 
turban,  white  or  blue — the  former  color  being  dis- 
tinctive of  the  gentleman  or  the  mollah,  the  latter  the 
appropriate  ornament  of  the  merchant,  handicrafts- 
man, and  servant.  After  the  Persian,  it  is  the  Tartar 
physiognomy  that  predominates.  We  meet  it  in  all 
its  degrees,  from  the  Ozbeg,  among  whom  Ave  find  a 
great  intermixture  of  blood,  to  the  Kirghis,  who  have 
preserved  all  the  wildness  of  their  origin.  No  need 
to  look  the  latter  in  the  face ;  his  heavy,  firm  tread 
suffices  alone  to  distinguish  him  from  the  Turani  and 
the  Irani.  Then  imagine  that  you  see  in  the  midst 
of  the  throng  of  the  two  principal  races  of  Asia  some 
Indians  (Multani,  as  they  are  here  called)  and  Jews. 
Both  wear  a  Polish  cap  for  the  sake  of  distinction,* 
and  a  cord  round  their  loins ;  the  former,  with  his 
red  mark  on  his  forehead,  and  his  yellow  repulsive 
face,  might  well  serve  to  scare  away  crows  from  rice- 
fields  ;  the  latter,  with  his  noble,  jDre-eminently-hand- 
some  features,  and  his  splendid  eye,  might  sit  to  any 
of  our  artists  for  a  model  of  manly  beauty.  There 
were  also  Turkomans,  "distinguished  from  all  by  the 
superior  boldness  and  fire  of  their  glance,  thinking, 
perhaps,  what  a  rich  harvest  the  scene  before  them 
would  yield  to  one  of  their  alamans.  Of  Afghans 
but  few  are  seen.  The  meaner  sort,  with  their  long, 
dirty  shirts,  and  still  dirtier  hair  streaming  down, 
throw  a  cloth,  in  Roman  fashion,  round  their  shoul- 

*  Elameti  tefrikie,  which,  according  to  the  provisions  of  the 
Koran,  every  subject  not  a  Mussulman  must  wear,  in  order  that 
the  salutation  " Selam  ale'ikum"  (Peace  be  with  you!)  may  not 
be  thrown  away  upon  hira. 


Chap.  X.  CALICO  BAZARS.  207 

ders;  but  this  does  not  prevent  their  looking  like 
persons  who  rush  for  safety  from  their  beds  into  the 
streets  when  their  houses  are  on  fire. 

This  diversified  chaos  of  Bokhariots,  Khivites,  Kho- 
kandi,  Kirghis,  Kiptchak,  Turkomans,  Indians,  Jews, 
and  Afghans  is  represented  in  all  the  principal  ba- 
zars; and  although  every  thing  is  in  unceasing  move- 
ment up  and  down,  I  am  yet  unable  to  detect  any 
trace  of  the  bustling  life  so  strikingly  characteristic 
of  the  bazars  in  Persia. 

I  kept  close  to  my  companions,  casting  as  I  passed 
glances  at  the  booths,  which  contain,  with  a  few  ar- 
ticles from  the  other  countries  in  Europe,  fancy  goods 
and  merchandise,  more  especially  of  Russian  manu- 
facture. These  have  no  particular  intrinsic  attrac- 
tions in  themselves  for  a  European  traveler  to  this 
remote  city ;  but  they  interest  him  nevertheless,  for 
each  piece  of  calico,  each  ticket  attached  to  it,  identi- 
fying the  origin  with  the  name  of  the  manufacturer, 
makes  him  feel  as  if  he  has  met  a  countryman.  How 
my  heart  beat  when  I  read  the  words  "Manchester*"' 
and  "Birmingham,"  and  how  apprehensive  I  was 
of  betraying  myself  by  an  imprudent  exclamation ! 
There  are  very  few  large  warehouses  or  wholesale 
dealers  ;  and  in  spite  of  cotton,  calico,  and  fine  mus- 
lin being  sold,  not  only  in  the  restei  tchit  furushi  (the 
place  where  cotton  is  exposed  for  sale),  which  has  284 
shops,  but  also  in  many  other  places  in  the  city,  I 
might  boldly  affirm  that  my  friends  "Hanhart  and 
Company,"  in  Tabris,  dispose  alone  of  as  much  of  the 
articles  above  named  as  the  whole  city  of  Bokhara, 
in  spite  of  the  latter  being  denominated  the  capital 


208  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  X. 

of  Central  Asia.  That  department  in  its  bazar  has 
more  interest  for  the  stranger,  where  he  sees  spread 
out  before  him  the  products  of  Asiatic  soil  and  na- 
tive industry ;  such,  for  instance,  as  that  cotton  stuff 
named  aladja,  which  has  narrow  stripes  of  two  colors, 
and  a  fine  texture ;  diiferent  sorts  of  silken  manufac- 
tures, from  the  fine  handkerchief  of  the  consistence 
of  the  spider's  web  to  the  heavy  atres ;  but  particu- 
larly manufactures  in  leather.  These  play,  indeed, 
a  pre-eminent  part ;  in  this  department  the  skill  of 
the  leather  -  cutter,  and  still  more  that  of  the  shoe- 
maker, deserves  commendation.  Boots,  both  for  male 
and  female  wear,  are  tolerably  well  made:  the  for- 
mer have  high  heels,  terminating  in  points  about  the 
size  of  a  nail's  head ;  the  latter  are  somewhat  thick, 
but  often  ornamented  with  the  finest  silk. 

I  had  almost  forgotten  the  bazar  and  booths  where 
clothes  are  exposed  to  tempt  the  eyes  of  purchasers. 
They  consist  of  articles  of  attire  of  brilliant  bright 
colors. 

The  Oriental,  only  here  to  be  met  with  in  his  orig- 
inal purity  and  peculiarity,  is  fond  of  the  tchakh- 
tchukh,  or  rustling  tone  of  the  dress.  It  was  always 
an  object  of  great  delight  to  me  to  see  the  seller  pa- 
rading up  and  down  a  few  paces  in  the  new  tchapan 
(dress),  to  ascertain  whether  it  gave  out  the  orthodox 
tone.  All  is  the  produce  of  home  manufacture,  and 
very  cheap  ;  consequently  it  is  in  the  clothes'  market 
of  Bokhara  that  "believers,"  even  from  remote  parts 
of  Tartary,  provide  themselves  with  fashionable  at- 
tire. Even  the  Kirghis,  Kiptchak,  and  Kalmuks  are 
in  the  habit  of  making  excursions  hither  from  the 


Chap.X.  refreshment  BAZARS.  209 

desert;  and  the  wild  Tartar,  with  his  eyes  oblique 
and  chin  prominent,  laughs  for  joy  when  he  exchanges 
his  clothes,  made  of  the  undressed  horse-skins,  for  a 
light  yektey  (a  sort  of  summer  dress),  for  it  is  here 
that  he  sees  his  highest  ideal  of  civilization.  Bokha- 
ra is  his  Paris  or  his  London. 

After  having  strolled  around  for  about  three  hours, 
I  begged  my  guide  and  excellent  friend,  Hadji  Salih, 
to  lead  me  to  a  place  of  refreshment,  where  I  might 
be  allowed  a  little  repose.  He  complied,  and  con- 
ducted me  through  the  timtche  tchay  furushi  (tea 
bazar)  to  the  renowned  place  lebi  hauz  Divanbeghi 
(bank  of  the  reservoir  of  the  Divanbeghi).  For 
Bokhara,  I  found  this  a  most  attractive  spot.  It  is 
almost  a  perfect  square,  having  in  the  centre  a  deep 
reservoir  100  feet  long  and  80  broad ;  the  sides  are 
of  square  stones,  with  eight  steps  leading  down  to  the 
surface  of  the  water.  About  the  margin  stand  a  few 
fine  elm -trees,  and  in  their  shade  the  inevitable  tea 
booth,  and  the  samovars  (tea-kettle),  looking  like  a 
colossal  cask  of  beer.  It  is  manufactured  in  Russia 
expressly  for  Bokhara,  and  invites  every  one  to  a  cup 
of  green  tea.  On  the  other  three  sides,  bread,  fruit, 
confectionery,  anil  meats  warm  and  cold,  are  exposed 
for  sale  on  stands  shaded  by  cane  mats.  The  hun- 
dreds of  shops  improvised  for  the  occasion,  around 
which  crowds  of  longing  mouths  or  hungry  custom- 
ers hum  like  bees,  present  us  with  a  very  character- 
istic spectacle.  On  the  fourth  side,  that  to  the  west, 
which  is  in  the  form  of  a  terrace,  we  find  the  mosque 
Mesdjidi  Divanbeghi.  At  its  front  there  are  also  a 
few  trees,  where  dervishes   and  meddah  (public  re- 

O 


210  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  X. 

citers)  recount  in  verse  and  prose,  and  actors  repre- 
sent simultaneously,  the  heroic  actions  of  famous  war- 
riors and  prophets,  to  which  performances  there  are 
never  wanting  crowds  of  curious  listeners  and  spec- 
tators. When  I  entered  this  place,  as  fate  would 
have  it,  still  farther  to  enhance  the  interest  of  the 
exhibition,  there  were  passing  by,  in  their  weekly 
procession,  dervishes  of  the  order  of  the  Nakishben- 
di,  of  whom  this  city  is  the  place  of  origin  and  the 
principal  abode.  Never  shall  I  forget  that  scene 
when  those  fellows,  with  their  wild  enthusiasm  and 
their  high  conical  caps,  fluttering  hair,  and  long 
staves,  danced  round  like  men  possessed,  bellowing 
out  at  the  same  time  a  hymn,  each  strophe  of  which 
was  first  sung  for  them  by  their  gray-bearded  chief. 
With  eye  and  ear  so  occupied,  I  soon  forgot  my  fa- 
tigue. My  friend  was  obliged  positively  to  force  me 
to  enter  a  booth,  and,  after  the  precious  shivin  (a 
kind  of  tea)  was  poured  out,  wishing  to  profit  by  the 
ecstatic  feeling  in  which  he  found  me,  he  asked  me, 
chucklingly,  "Now,  then,  what  do  you  say  to  Bok- 
hara Sherif  (the  noble)?"  "It  pleases  me  much,'' 
I  replied ;  and  the  Central  Asiatic,  although  from 
Khokand,  and  an  alien  enemy,  as  his  nation  was  at 
that  moment  at  war  with  Bokhara,  was  nevertheless 
delighted  to  find  that  the  capital  of  Turkestan  had 
made  such  a  conquest  of  me,  and  gave  me  his  word 
that  he  would  show  me  its  finest  features  in  the 
course  of  the  following  days. 

In  spite  of  the  costume,  strictly  Bokhariot,  which 
I  had  this  day  assumed,  and  of  my  being  so  tanned 
by  the  sun  that  even  my  mother  would  have  had  a 


Chap.  X.  OPINIONS  ABOUT  THE  AUTHOR.  211 

difficulty  in  recognizing  me,  I  was  surrounded,  wher- 
ever I  appeared,  by  a  crowd  of  inquisitive  persons. 
Ah !  how  they  shook  me  by  the  hands,  and  how  they 
embraced  me ;  how  they  wearied  me  to  death !  An 
immense  turban*  crowned  my  head,  a  large  Koran 
hung  suspended  from  my  neck.  I  had  thus  assumed 
the  exterior  of  an  ishan  or  sheikh,  and  was  obliged 
to  submit  to  the  corvee  which  I  had  so  provoked. 
Still  I  had  reason  to  be  contented,  for  the  sanctity  of 
my  character  had  protected  me  from  secular  interro- 
gations, and  I  heard  how  the  people  about  questioned 
my  friends,  or  whispered  their  criticisms  to  each  other. 
"What  extreme  piety,"  said  one,  "to  come  all  the  way 
from  Constantinople  to  Bokhara  alone,  in  order  to  vis- 
it our  Baha-ed-din ! ''f  "Yes,"  said  a  second ;  "and 
we,  too,  we  go  to  Mecca,  the  holiest  place  of  all,  to  be 
sure,  ■\^'ith  no  little  trouble.  But  these  people  (and 
he  pointed  to  me)  having  nothing  else  to  do,  their 
whole  life  is  prayer,  piety,  and  pilgrimage. "  ' '  Bravo ! 
you  have  guessed  it,"  I  said  to  myself,  delighted  that 
my  disguise  was  becoming  so  pregnant   of  conse- 

*  The  turban,  it  is  well  known,  represents  the  pall  that  every 
pious  Mussulman  must  bear  on  his  head  as  a  continual  memento 
of  death.  The  Koran  only  enjoins  a  pall  (kefen)  having  a  length 
of  7  ells.  But  zealots  often  exceed  this  measure,  and  carry  about 
on  their  heads  4  to  6  such  palls,  thus  making  altogether  from  28 
to  42  ells  of  fine  muslin. 

f  Baha-ed-din — or,  according  to  Bokhariot  pronunciation,  Ba- 
veddin — is  an  ascetic  and  saint  renowned  throughout  all  Islam, 
the  founder  of  the  Nakishbendi  order;  members  of  it  are  to  be 
met  with  in  India,  China,  Persia,  Arabia,  and  Turkey.  He  died 
in  1388,  and  the  convent,  as  well  as  the  mosque,  and  space  walled 
in  for  his  grave  in  the  village  of  Baveddin,  were  erected  by  di- 
rection of  Abdul  Aziz  Khan  in  the  year  1490. 


212  TKAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Cuap.  X. 

quence.  And  really  I  was,  during  my  whole  stay  in 
the  capital  of  Turkestan,  not  once  an  object  of  doubt 
or  suspicion  to  the  people,  in  other  respects  cunning 
and  malicious  enough.  They  came  to  me  for  my 
blessing;  they  listened  to  me  when,  on  the  public 
places,  I  read  to  them  the  history  of  the  great  sheikh 
of  Bagdad,  Abdul  Kadr  Ghilani.  They  praised  me, 
but  not  a  farthing  did  I  ever  get  from  them ;  and 
the  semblance  of  sanctity  in  this  nation  presented  a 
singular  contrast  with  the  genuine  piety  and  benevo- 
lence of  the  Khivan  Ozbegs. 

But  in  playing  my  part  it  was  not  so  easy  to  de- 
ceive the  government  as  the  people.  Rahmet  Bi, 
whom  I  before  spoke  of,  not  being  able  to  come  at 
me  openly,  set  spies  incessantly  at  work.  These,  in 
conversing  with  me,  took  care  to  embrace  a  variety 
of  subjects,  but  always  came  to  the  subject  of  Fren- 
ghistan,  hoping,  probably,  that  I  should  betray  my- 
self by  some  unguarded  expression  or  other.  Per- 
ceiving that  the  twig  which  they  had  so  limed  did 
not  catch  its  bird,  they  began  to  speak  of  the  great 
pleasure  which  the  Frenghis  experience  in  the  "no- 
ble"" Bokhara,  and  how  already  many  of  their  spies, 
but  particularly  the  Englishmen,  Conolly  and  Stod- 
dart,  had  been  punished.*     Or  they  recounted  to  me 

'  *  The  sad  fate  of  these  two  martyrs  has  continued  to  remain, 
as  I  remarked,  a  secret  even  in  Bokhara ;  the  most  contradictory 
reports  are  up  to  the  present  day  in  circulation  upon  this  sub- 
ject. The  reader  will  readily  understand  that,  without  betray- 
ing my  real  identity,  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  put  the  neces- 
sary questions  to  elicit  any  fresh  information ;  and  the  sad  event 
having  been  so  frequently  and  so  fully  entered  into  by  Wolff, 
Ferrier,  T.  W.  Kaye,  and  others  who  have  written  officially  and 


Chap.x.  bokhariot  spies.  213 

the  story  of  the  Frenghis  who  had  arrived  only  a  few 
days  before,  and  had  been  imprisoned  (referring  to 
the  unfortunate  Italians) ;  how  they  had  brought 
with  them  several  chests  of  tea  sprinkled  with  dia- 
mond dust,  to  poison  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  holy 
city ;  how  they  converted  day  into  night,  and  brought 
about  other  infernal  strokes  of  art.* 

These  bloodhounds  Avere  for  the  most  part  hadjis 
who  had  long  dwelt  in  Constantinople,  and  whose 
design  was  to  test  at  once  my  knowledge  of  its  lan- 
guage, and  my  acquaintance  with  its  mode  of  living. 
After  listening  to  them  a  long  time  with  patience,  it 
was  my  habit  to  put  on  an  air  of  disgust,  and  to  beg 
them  to  spare  me  any  farther  conversation  about  the 
Frenghis.  "I  quitted  Constantinople,"  I  said,  "to 
get  away  from  these  Frenghis,  who  seem  indebted  to 
the  devil  for  their  understanding.  Thank  God,  I  am 
now  in  the  '  noble'  Bokhara,  and  do  not  wish  to  em- 
bitter the  time  I  spend  here  by  any  recollections." 
Similar  language  I  employed  also  with  the  crafty 
Mollah  Sherefeddin,  the  aksakal  of  the  booksellers, 
Avho  showed  me  a  list  of  books  which  a  Russian  em- 
bassador, a  few  years  ago,  had  left  behind  him.  I 
threw  my  eye  carelessly  over  them,  and  observed, 
"Allah  be  praised,  my  memory,  is  not  yet  corrupted 
by  the  science  and  books  of  the  Frenghis,  as  unhap- 
pily is  too  often  the  case  with  the  Turks  of  Constan- 
tinople P'f 

unofficially  upon  the  subject,  any  notices  collected  by  myself  in 

ray  journey  through  Bokhara  seem  entirely  useless  and  uncalled 

for.  *  They,  it  appears,  have  recently  been  liberated. 

f  One  day  a  servant  of  the  vizir  brought  to  me  a  little  shriv- 


214  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  X. 

When  Rahmet  Bi  saw  that  he  could  not,  by  his 
emissaries,  found  any  accusation,  he  summoned  me 
to  attend  him.  Of  course,  this  was  in  the  form  of  a 
public  invitation  to  a  pilow,  which  was  also  attended 
by  a  circle  composed  of  Bokhariot  ulemas.  At  my 
very  entry  I  found  that  I  had  a  hard  nut  to  crack, 
for  the  whole  interview  was  a  sort  of  examination,  in 
which  my  incognito  had  to  stand  a  running  fire.  I 
saw,  however,  while  it  was  yet  time,  the  danger  to 
which  I  was  exposed ;  and,  to  escape  being  surprised 
by  some  sudden  question  or  other,  I  assumed  the 
part  of  one  himself  curious  of  information,  frequently 
interrogating  these  gentlemen  as  to  the  diiFerence  of 
religious  principles  in  the  farz,  siinnet,  vadjib,  and 
mustahab.* 

My  earnestness  met  with  favor ;  and  soon  a  very 

eled  individual,  that  I  might  examine  him  to  see  whether  he 
was,  as  he  pretended,  really  an  Arab  from  Damascus.  When  he 
first  entered, his  features  struck  me  much;  they  appeared  to  me 
European :  when  he  opened  his  mouth,  my  astonishment  and 
perplexity  increased,  for  I  found  his  pronunciation  any  thing 
rather  than  that  of  an  Arab.  He  told  me  that  he  had  under- 
taken a  pilgrimage  to  the  tomb  of  Djafen  Ben  Sadik  at  Khoten 
in  China,  and  wanted  to  proceed  on  his  journey  that  very  day. 
His  features  during  our  conversation  betrayed  a  visible  embar- 
rassment, and  it  was  a  subject  of  great  regret  to  me  that  I  had 
not  an  occasion  to  see  him  a  second  time,  for  I  am  strongly  dis- 
posed to  think  that  he  was  playing  a  part  similar  to  my  own ! 

*  These  are  the  four  grades  expressing  the  importance  of  the 
commandments  of  Islam.  Farz  means  the  duty  enjoined  by  God 
through  the  Prophet ;  sunnet,  the  tradition  emanating  from  the 
Prophet  himself  without  divine  inspiration.  The  latter  two 
words,  vadjib  and  mustahab,  signify  ordinances  originating  with 
more  recent  interpreters  of  the  Koran,  the  former  being  obliga- 
tory, the  latter  discretionary. 


Chap.  X.  BOOK  BAZAR.  215 

warm  dispute  arose  upon  several  points  in  Hidayet, 
Slierkhi  Vekaye,  and  other  books  treating  of  similar 
subjects ;  in  this  I  was  careful  to  take  part,  praising 
loudly  the  Bokhariot  mollahs,  and  admitting  their 
great  superiority,  not  only  over  me,  but  over  all  the 
ulemas  of  Constantinople.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  I 
got  safe  through  this  ordeal  also.  My  brethren,  the 
mollahs,  gave  Rahmet  Bi  to  understand,  both  by 
their  signs  and  words,  that  his  reporter  had  made  a 
great  mistake,  and  that,  even  supposing  me  not  to  be 
a  mollah  of  distinction,  I  was  still  one  on  the  high 
road  to  receive  worthily  the  lightning-flash  of  true 
knowledge. 

After  this  scene  they  left  me  to  live  a  quiet  life  in 
Bokhara.  It  was  my  practice  first  of  all  to  fulfill 
at  home  the  different  duties  imposed  upon  me  by  my 
character  of  dervish.  I  then  proceeded  to  the  book 
bazar,  which  contains  twenty-six  shops.  A  printed 
book  is  here  a  rarity.  In  this  place,  and  in  the 
houses  of  the  booksellers  (for  there  is  the  great  de- 
pot), many  are  the  treasures  that  I  have  seen,  which 
would  be  of  incalculable  value  to  our  Oriental  histo- 
rians and  philologists.  Their  acquisition  was,  in  ray 
case,  out  of  the  question,  for,  in  the  first  place,  I  had 
not  the  adequate  means,  and,  in  the  second,  any  ap- 
pearance of  worldly  knowledge  might  have  preju- 
diced my  disguise.  The  few  manuscripts  that  I 
brought  back  with  me  from  Bokhara  and  Samarcand 
cost  me  much  trouble  to  acquire,  and  my  heart  bled 
when  I  found  that  I  was  obliged  to  leave  behind  me 
works  that  might  have  filled  many  an  important  his- 
tory in  our  Oriental  studies.     From  the  book  mar- 


216  TEAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA-  Chap.  X. 

ket  I  was  in  the  habit  of  resorting  to  the  Righistan 
(public  j)lace) ;  it  lay  rather  remote.  Although 
larger  and  more  bustling  than  the  Lebi  Hauz,  which 
I  before  described,  it  is  far  from  being  so  agreeable ; 
we  find  here  also  a  reservoir  surrounded  by  booths 
for  tea ;  from  the  bank  -sve  can  discern  the  ark  (castle 
or  palace)  of  the  emir,  which  is  on  the  opposite  side, 
situate  upon"  high  ground.  The  portal  was  crowned 
by  a  clock:  it  had  a  gloomy  appearance.  I  shud- 
dered when  I  passed  by  this  nest  of  tyranny,  the 
place  where,  perhaps,  many  who  preceded  me  had 
been  murdered,  and  where,  even  at  that  moment, 
three  wretched  Europeans  were  languishing  so  far 
from  their  country  and  every  possibility  of  succor. 
Near  the  gate  lay  fourteen  pieces  of  brass  cannon, 
the  long  barrels  of  which  were  highly  ornamented. 
The  emir  had  sent  them  home  from  Khokand  as 
trophies  of  the  victories  gained  in  his  campaign. 
Above,  to  the  right  of  the  palace,  is  Mesdjidi  Kelan, 
the  largest  mosque  in  Bokhara :  it  was  built  by  Ab- 
dullah Khan  Sheibani. 

After  leaving  the  Righistan,  I  entered  the  tea- 
booth  of  a  Chinese  from  Komul.*  a  man  perfectly 
acquainted  with  the  Turko-Tartar  language,  and  who 
passed  here  for  a  Mussulman.  This  good  man  was 
very  friendly  to  me,  and  yet  how  far  were  our  homes 
asunder !  He  recounted  to  me  much  concerning  the 
beautiful  locality,  much  of  the  customs,  and  the  ex- 
cellent dishes,  too,  of  his  fatherland !  But  his  expe- 
rience was  particularly  great  in  matters  connected 

*  Komnl  is  distant  40  stations  from  Kasbgar  and  60  from 
Bokliava. 


Chap.  X.  DIFFERENT  KINDS  OF  TP:A.  217 

with  teas.  How  enthusiastically  he  spoke  when 
treating  of  the  tea-shrub,  which  displayed  upon  a  sin- 
gle stem  leaves  of  such  a  variety  of  flavors !  He  had 
in  his  shop  sixteen  different  kinds,  Avhich  he  could 
distinguish  by  the  touch.* 

I  had,  during  ray  journey  from  Teheran  to  Bokha- 
ra, heard  the  latter  city  so  often  described  by  my 
companions,  that  after  a  sojourn  of  eight  days  I  was 
quite  at  home.  First  of  all,  Hadji  Salih  led  me  ev- 
ery where,  and  then  I  continued  my  investigations 
alone,  through  the  city,  its  bazars,  and  its  colleges 
(medresse),  only  accompanying  my  friends  when  we 

*  The  teas  were  of  the  following  kinds: 
(1.)  Kvrkma. 
(2.)  Akhbar. 
(3.)  Ak  Kuyruk. 
These  kinds,  rarely  seen  in  Central  Asia  and  in  China,  are  more 
used  in  Russia,  Persia,  and  Europe. 

(4.)  Kara  Tchaj. 

(5.)  Sepet  Tchaj. 

These  two,  sold  like  Chinese  Kynaster,  pressed  into  the  form  of 

a  brick,  are  drunk  only  in  the  morning  with  cream  and  salt,  and 

are  very  stimulating. 

(6.)  Shibaglu.  .   (12.)  Pu-Tchay. 

(7.)  Gore  Shibaglu.  (13.)  Tun  tey. 

(8.)  Shivin.  (14.)  Giilbuy. 

(9.)  It  Kellesi.  (15.)  Mishk-goz, 

(10.)  Bonge.  (16.)  Lonka. 

(11.)  Poshun, 
These  are  all  green  teas;  none  others  are  in  favor  in  the  north 
of  China  and  in  Central  Asia.     Tlie  last-named  (Lonka)  is  re- 
garded as  the  most  precious;  a  single  leaf  suffices  for  a  cup 
which  equals  two  of  ours. 

The  purchaser  first  forms  a  judgment  of  his  tea  by  tasting  a 
leaf  that  has  been  already  boiled :  when  the  tea  is  good  the  leaf 
is  extremely  fine  and  soft. 


218  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASLi.  Chap.  X. 

received  joint  invitations  to  the  house  of  a  Chinese 
Tartar  *vho  had  settled  there.  We  were,  on  these 
occasions,  usually  treated  to  national  dishes,  to  which 
my  friends  (I  mean  Hadji  Bilal  and  his  party)  had 
lono;  been  strano-ers.  There  is  one  which  I  will  im- 
part  in  confidence  to  my  European  readers,  for  I  can 
recommend  it  as  a  dainty.  It  is  called  mantuy,  a 
sort  of  pudding  filled  with  hashed  meat  mixed  with 
fat  and  spices.  This  they  boil  in  a  singular  manner. 
They  place  upon  the  fire  a  kettle  of  water,  which  is 
covered  in  at  the  top,  with  the  exception  of  an  open- 
ing of  about  the  size  of  one's  closed  hand.  Upon 
this  opening  are  placed  three  or  four  strainers  or 
sieves,  which  close  firmly,  the  under  one  being  made 
fast  with  dough  to  the  kettle  itself  As  soon  as  the 
water  begins  to  boil,  and  a  sufficient  quantity  of  steam 
passes  into  the  strainers,  the  mantuy  is  at  first  laid 
in  the  upper,  and  then  in  the  lowest  strainer;  here 
it  is  sufiered  to  remain  until  done.  It  seems  sin- 
gular that  the  Chinese  should  employ  steam  in  the 
preparation  of  their  meats!  The  mantuys,  after  hav- 
ing been  boiled,  are  then  often  broiled  in  fat,  when 
they  receive  the  name  zenbusi  (lady's  kiss).  My 
friends  from  Kashgar  and  Yarkend  have  many  more 
dishes  peculiarly  their  own,  but  these  receipts  would 
only  suit  a  Tartar  cookery  book. 

During  the  whole  time  of  my  stay  in  Bokhara  the 
weather  was  insupportably  hot ;  but  another  circum- 
stance doubled  my  sufferings — the  apprehension  of 
the  rishte  (filaria  Medinensis),  by  which,  during  the 
season,  one  person  in  every  ten  is  attacked.  This 
obliged  me  to  be  continually  drinking  warm  water 


Chap.x-  the  kishte.  219 

or  tea.  This  affection  is  quite  usual,  and  is  treated 
with  as  much  indifference  by  those  residing  in  Bok- 
hara during  the  summer  season  as  colds  are  with  us. 
One  feels,  at  first,  on  the  foot,  or  on  some  other  part 
of  the  body,  a  tickling  sensation,  then  a  spot  becomes 
visible  whence  issues  a  worm  like  a  thread.  This  is 
often  an  ell  long,  and  it  ought  some  days  after  to  be 
carefully  wound  off  on  a  reel.  This  is  the  common 
treatment,  and  occasions  no  extraordinary  pain  ;  but 
if  the  worm  is  broken  off,  an  inflammation  ensues, 
and  instead  of  one,  from  six  to  ten  make  their  ap- 
pearance, which  forces  the  patient  to  keep  his  bed  a 
week,  subjecting  him  to  intense  suffering.  The  more 
courageous  have  the  rishte  cut  out  at  the  very  begin- 
ning. The  barbers  in  Bokhara  are  tolerably  expert 
in  this  operation.  The  part  where  the  tickling  sen- 
sation takes  place  is  in  an  instant  removed,  the  worm 
extracted,  and  the  wound  itself  soon  heals.  Some- 
times this  malady,  which  is  also  common  in  Bender 
Abbasi  (Persia),  recurs  in  the  following  summer,  and 
tha^t,  too,  even  when  the  patient  is  in  a  different  cli- 
mate. It  happened  so  with  Dr.  Wolff,  the  well-known 
traveler,  who  dragged  with  him  all  the  way  from  Bok- 
hara one  of  these  long  memorials  of  his  journey.  It 
did  not  show  itself  till  he  came  to  England,  when  it 
was  extracted,  in  Eastern  fashion,  by  the  late  Sir 
Benjamin  Brodie.  Besides  this  affliction,  the  Bok- 
hariots  exhibit  many  malignant  sores,  occasioned  by 
their  bad  climate  and  still  worse  water.  It  is  more 
especially  remarked  that  the  women,  who  would  oth- 
erwise pass  for  not  unattractive  brunettes,  are  thus 
quite  disfigured  with  scars,  perhaps  to  be  remotely 
referred  to  their  sedentary  habits. 


220  TRAVELS  IN  CENTKAL  ASIA.  Ciiap.X. 

Bokhara  derives  its  water  from  the  Zerefshan  (dis- 
tributor of  gold),  whose  course  is  northeasterly.  Its 
channel  is  lower  than  the  city  itself,  and  even  in  sum- 
mer aifords  but  a  scanty  supply.  The  water  flows 
through  a  canal,  deep  enough,  but  not  maintained  in 
a  state  of  cleanliness.  It  is  permitted  to  enter  the 
city  at  the  gate  Dervaze  Mezar  once  in  intervals  of 
from  every  eight  to  fourteen  days,  according  as  the 
height  of  the  river  may  allow.  The  appearance  of 
the  water,  tolerably  dirty  even  when  it  first  enters, 
is  always  a  joyful  occurrence  for  the  inhabitants. 
Then  first  the  inhabitants,  young  and  old,  precipitate 
themselves  into  the  canals  and  reservoirs  to  make 
their  ablutions ;  afterward  the  horses,  cows,  and  asses 
come  to  take  their  baths ;  and  when  the  dogs  finally 
have  cooled  themselves  there  a  little,  all  entrance  is 
forbidden,  the  water  is  left  to  settle,  become  clear  and 
pure.  It  has,  it  is  true,  absorbed  thousands  of  ele- 
ments of  miasma  and  filthiness !  Such  is  the  atten- 
tion that  Bokhara  the  noble  joays  to  this  indispensa- 
ble necessary  of  life — Bokhara,  whither  flock  thou- 
sands of  scholars  to  learn  the  principles  of  a  religion 
that  consecrates  the  princij)le  that  "Cleanliness  is 
derived  from  religion."* 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  forget  Bokhara,  were  it 
only  on  account  of  the  efi'orts  with  respect  to  religion 
which  I  have  noticed  there  both  on  the  part  of  gov- 
ernment and  people.  I  often  heard  it  afiirmed  that 
"Bokhara  is  the  true  support  of  Islam.^f  The  title 
is  too  weak ;  it  should  be  rather  termed  the  "Home 

*  "  El  nezafet  min  el  iman." 

f  "  Bokhara  kuvveti  islam  ii  din  est." 


Chap.  X.  EXPLANATIONS  CALLED  FOR.  £21 

of  Islam,"  since  Mecca  and  Medina  are  its  Jerusalem. 
Bokhara  is  aware  of  her  superiority,  and  plumes  her- 
self upon  it  in  the  face  of  all  the  other  nations  of 
Islam ;  yes,  even  before  the  sultan  himself,  who  is 
yet  acknowledged  as  the  official  chief  of  religion;  but 
he  is  not  so  readily  pardoned  for  having  suffered  so 
much  to  be  corrupted  in  his  territories  by  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Frenghis.  In  my  supposed  character  of 
Osmanli,  I  was  called  upon  to  explain  fully, 

First,  why  the  sultan  does  not  put  to  death  all  the 
Frenghis  who  live  in  his  dominions,  and  yet  pay  no 
djizie  (tribute) ;  why  he  does  not  every  year  under- 
take a  djihad  (religious  war),  as  he  has  unbelievers 
on  all  his  frontiers. 

Secondly,  why  the  Osmanlis,  who  are  Sunnites,  and 
belong  to  the  sect  of  the  Ebuhanife,  do  not  wear  the 
turban,  nor  the  long  garments  prescribed  by  the  law, 
and  reaching  to  the  ankles ;  why  they  have  not  a 
long  beard  and  short  mustaches,  like  "the  glory  of 
all  mundane  creatures,"  as  the  Prophet  is  styled. 

Thirdly,  why  the  Sunnites,  both  in  Constantino- 
ple and  Mecca,  sing  the  ezan  (call  to  prayer)  when 
they  utter  it,  which  is  a  frightful  sin  ;  why  they  are 
not  all  hadjis  there,  as  they  dwell  so  nigh  the  holy 
places ;  etc.,  etc. 

I  did  my  utmost  to  save  the  religious  honor  of  the 
honest  Osmanlis,  and  if  I  was  obliged  occasionally  to 
pronounce,  with  a  blush  on  my  cheek,  the  "Pater, 
peccavi,"  I  could  not  but  internally  felicitate  the 
Turks  on  retaining,  in  spite  of  their  being  under  the 
influence  of  a  corrupt  Islamism,  many  good  qualities 
and  fine  traits  of  character,  whereas  their  fellow-re- 


222  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  X. 

ligionists,  who  boast  that  they  are  refreshing  them- 
selves at  the  very  fountain  of  the  pure  faith,  delight 
in  nothing  but  the  blackest  mendacity,  in  hypocrisy, 
and  in  impositions.  How  often  was  I  forced  to  wit- 
ness one  of  the  khalka  (circle)  which  devotees  form 
by  squatting  down  close  to  each  other  in  a  ring,  to 
devote  themselves  to  the  tevedjiih  (contemplation), 
or,  as  the  Western  Mohammedans  call  it,  the  mura- 
kebe  of  the  greatness  of  God,  the  glory  of  the  Proph- 
et, and  the  futility  of  our  mortal  existence !  If  you, 
a  stranger,  behold  these  people,  with  their  immense 
turbans,  and  their  arms  hanging  down  folded  upon 
their  laps,  sitting  in  their  cramped  position,  you  could 
not  help  believing  them  to  be  beings  of  a  purer,  lof- 
tier nature,  who  seek  to  cast  from  them  the  burden 
of  clay,  and  adopt  the  full  spirit  of  the  Arabian  saj- 

"  The  world  is  an  abomination,  and  those  who  toil  about  it 
are  dogs."* 

Look  only  more  attentively,  and  you  will  not  fail  to 
perceive  that  many  have,  from  deep  reflection,  fallen 
into  deeper  slumber;  and  although  they  begin  to 
snore,  like  hounds  after  a  hard  day's  hunting,  beware 
how  you  breathe  any  reproach,  or  the  Bokhariot  will 
soon  set  you  right  with  the  observation,  "These  men 
have  made  such  progress  that  even  while  they  snore 
they  are  thinking  of  God  and  of  immortality  P'  In 
Bokhara  only  the  external  form  of  the  thing  is  re- 
quired. Each  city  has  its  reis,f  who,  with  a  cat-o'- 
four-tails  in  his  hand,  traverses  the  streets  and  public 

*  "  Ed  dtinya  djifetun  ve  talibeha  kilab." 
f  Guardian  of  religion. 


Chap.  X.  SURVEILLANCE  IN  FAMILIES.  223 

places,  examines  each  passer-by  in  the  principles  of 
Islamism,  and  sends  the  ignorant,  even  if  they  be 
gray-bearded  men  of  threescore  years,  for  periods  va- 
rying from  eight  to  fourteen  days,  to  the  boys'  school ; 
or  he  drives  them  into  the  mosques  at  the  hour  of 
prayer.  But  whether,  in  the  former  case,  they  learn 
any  thing  in  school,  or  go  to  sleep  there  ;  whether,  in 
the  latter,  they  pray  in  the  mosque,  or  are  thinking 
how  their  daily  occupations  have  been  cut  short — all 
this  is  the  aifair  of  nobody  whatever.  The  govern- 
ment insists  upon  nothing  but  the  external  appear- 
ance ;  what  lies  within  is  known  to  God  alone. 

What  need  to  insist  that  the  spirit  in  which  relig- 
ion is  administered  has  a  powerful  influence  upon 
both  government  and  society?  The  Iranian  blood 
of  the  inhabitants  (for  two  thirds  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  city  of  Bokhara  are  Persians,  Mervi,  and  Tad- 
jiks) gives  a  little  semblance  of  vitality  to  the  bazars 
and  public  places,  but  what  dreariness  and  monotony 
in  the  private  houses !  Every  trace  of  gladness  and 
cheerfulness  is  banished  from  those  circles  where  the 
influence  of  religion  and  the  system  of  surveillance 
are  so  tyrannically  felt.  The  emir's  spies  force  their 
way  even  into  the  sanctuaries  of  families,  and  woe  to 
the  man  who  permits  himself  to  offend  against  the 
forms  of  religion  or  the  authority  of  the  sovereign. 
Ages  of  oppression  have  now  so  intimidated  the  peo- 
ple that  husband  and  wife,  even  with  no  third  person 
present,  do  not  dare  to  pronounce  the  emir's  name 
without  adding  the  words,  "  God  grant  him  to  live 
120  years !"  It  must  be  also  admitted  that  the  poor 
people  feel  no  sentiment  of  hatred  for  their  ruler,  be- 


224  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  X. 

cause  tyrannical  caprice  does  not  seem  to  them  as  a 
thing  to  be  wondered  at,  but  is  rather  looked  upon  in 
the  light  of  an  inevitable  attribute  of  princely  dignity. 
Emir  Nasr  Ullah,  the  father  of  the  present  ruler  of 
Bokhara,  was,  in  the  last  years  of  his  life,  a  cruel  prof- 
ligate, who  visited  with  capital  punishment  immoral- 
ity in  others,  and  yet  himself  violated,  in  the  most 
shameless  manner,  the  honor  of  his  subjects.  Few 
were  the  families  who  escaped  unscathed ;  and  still 
no  one  permitted  even  a  breath  of  blame  to  escape 
his  lips.  The  reigning  emir,  Mozaffar-ed-din  Khan, 
happily,  is  a  well-disposed  man ;  and  although  he 
enforces  with  severity  the  laws  respecting  religion 
and  morals,  he  can  not  be  charged  himself  with  any 
crime ;  hence  the  unceasing  praises  and  glorifications 
of  which  he  is  the  object  on  the  part  of  his  people. 

I  saw  tlie  emir  afterward  in  Samarcand :  he  is  in 
the  forty-second  year  of  his  age,  of  middle  stature, 
somewhat  corpulent.  He  has  a  very  pleasing  coun- 
tenance, fine  black  eyes,  and  a  thin  beard.  In  his 
youth  he  acted  as  governor  one  year  in  Karshi,  and 
eighteen  in  Kermineh,  and  was  always  distinguished 
for  the  gentleness  and  affability  of  his  manners.  He 
carries  out  strictly  the  political  principles  of  his  fa- 
ther, and  in  his  capacity  as  mollah  and  pious  Mus- 
sulman is  the  declared  enemy  of  every  innovation, 
even  when  he  may  be  convinced  of  its  utility.  On 
his  accession  he  had  impressed  upon  his  signet  the 

device 

"  Government  by  justice,"* 

and  up  to  the  present  moment  has  most  scrupulous- 
*«Elhiikmbila(ll." 


Chap.  X.  EMIR  OF  BOKHARA.  225 

\y  observed  it.  Many  reports  in  circulation  respect- 
ing him  confirm  the  remark.  True,  according  to  our 
view  of  things,  there  seems  great  exaggeration  in  a 
system  of  justice  which  led  the  emir  to  send  his  meh- 
ter,  the  second  in  rank  of  his  officers,  to  execution, 
for  having  (for  it  was  in  this  form  that  the  report 
reached  Khokand)  thrown  a  dubious  glance  at  one 
of  the  royal  slaves ;  nor  should  a  prince,  whose  de- 
vice is  "justice,"  have  conducted  himself  as  the  emir 
did  in  Khokand.  But  all  these  faults  are  very  par- 
donable in  a  Khan  of  Bokhara.  Toward  his  gran- 
dees, who,  for  the  most  part,  well  merit  the  treatment 
they  meet  with,  he  is  very  severe,  for,  although  pun- 
ishing with  death  even  trivial  offenses  in  these,  he 
spares  the  poorer  classes.  Hence  the  expression  ap- 
plied to  him  by  the  people,  and  which  does  him  hon- 
or, for  they  say  of  him  that  he  is  "  killer  of  elephants 
and  protector  of  mice."''' 

It  is  singular  what  pains  the  emir  takes  to  throw 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  his  subjects  whenever  they 
seek  to  depart  from  the  simplicity  and  modesty  of 
their  present,  in  his  opinion,  happy  condition.  The 
introduction  of  articles  of  luxury,  or  other  expensive 
merchandise,  is  forbidden,  as  also  the  employment  of 
sumptuousness  in  house  or  dress :  in  offenses  of  this 
description  there  is  no  respect  of  persons.  His  ser- 
dari  kul  (commandant- in -chief),  Shahrukh  Khan, 
sprung  from  a  collateral  branch  of  the  royal  family 
of  Persia  (Kadjar),  having  fled  hither  from  Astrabad, 
where  he  had  been  governor,  had  been  long  held  here 
in  high  honor  and  distinction  ;  but,  desirous  of  living 
*  Filkusli  and  mushperver. 
P 


226  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  X. 

in  the  Persian  manner,  he  ordered,  at  great  expense, 
a  house  to  be  erected  one  story  high,  like  those  in  Te- 
heran ;  in  this,  besides  other  articles  of  luxury,  glass 
windows  were  inserted :  it  is  said  to  have  cost  alto- 
gether 15,000  tilla,  regarded  in  Bokhara  an  enormous 
sum ;  it  was  of  a  description  calculated  to  throAv  into 
the  shade  even  the  ark  (palace)  itself.  The  emir  had 
been  informed  of  this  from  the  very  beginning,  but 
he  waited  until  the  whole  was  quite  finished,  and  then 
suddenly  Shahrukh  Khan  was  accused  of  an  offense 
against  religion,  thrown  into  confinement,  and  then 
exiled.  The  house  was  confiscated  and  reverted  to 
the  emir :  an  offer  was  made  to  purchase  it,  and  at  a 
sum  exceeding  the  cost  price,  but  no !  he  directed  it 
to  be  demolished ;  the  ruins  themselves,  however,  ap- 
pearing too  ornamental,  he  ordered  them  to  be  entire- 
ly destroyed,  with  the  sole  reservation  of  the  timber, 
which  was  sold  to  a  baker  for  200  tilla,  in  scorn  and 
mockery  of  all  who  should  venture  to  give  way  to  a 
taste  for  luxuries.  Even  in  his  domestic  arrange- 
ments  the  emir  is  widely  different  from  his  father ; 
and  it  did  not  appear  to  me  that  there  could  have 
been  more  than  half  the  retinue  of  servants  which 
M.  de  Khanikoff  saw  at  the  court  of  Nasr  Ullah,  and 
of  which,  as  of  so  many  other  particulars  concerning 
Bokhara,  the  Russian  traveler  gives  so  careful,  so  ex- 
act and  circumstantial  an  account. 

Mozaffar-ed-din  Khan  has  (for  it  is  a  custom  of  his 
religion)  four  legitimate  wives  and  about  twenty  oth- 
ers, the  former  natives  of  Bokhara,  the  latter  slaves, 
and,  as  I  was  told  seriously,  only  employed  to  tend 
upon  the  children,  of  whom  there  are  sixteen,  ten 


Chap.x.  the  iiakem.— expenses.  227 

girls  (but  I  beg  pardon,  princesses),  and  six  boys 
(tore).  The  two  eldest  princesses  are  married  to  the 
governors  of  Serepool  and  Aktche ;  only,  as  these 
two  cities  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Afo-han. 
his  two  sons-in-law  live  as  the  emir  s  guests,  like 
kings  sans  portefeuilles.  The  harem  is  presided  over 
by  the  sovereign's  mother,  formerly  a  Persian  slave 
(born  at  Kademgihah,  near  Meshed),  and  by  his  grand- 
mother. Hakim  Ayim.  It  bears  a  high  character 
for  chastity  and  orderly  training.  It  is  forbidden  to 
the  laity  on  pain  of  death  to  enter,  or  even  to  throw 
a  glance  or  direct  a  thought  thither ;  this  is  permit- 
ted alone  to  pious  sheikhs  or  mollahs,  whose  nefes 
(breath)  is  of  notorious  sanctity ;  and  it  was  by  this 
title  that  our  friend  Hadji  Salih  was  summoned  to 
administer  a  dose  of  the  khaki  shifa  (health  powder 
from  Medina).  The  cost  of  the  harem,  as  far  as 
dress,  board,  and  other  necessaries  are  concerned,  is 
very  small.  The  ladies  make  not  only  their  own 
clothes,  but  often  even  the  garments  of  the  emir,  who 
is  known  to  be  a  strict  economist,  and  to  exercise  se- 
vere control  over  every  thing.  The  daily  kitchen  ex- 
penses of  the  palace  are  said  to  be  from  sixteen  to 
twenty  tenghe  (rather  more  than  from  nine  to  ten 
shillings),  which  is  very  likely,  as  his  table  rarely  of- 
fers any  confectionery,  and  consists  merely  of  pilow 
boiled  with  mutton  fat.  The  expression  "princely 
table"  is  inapplicable  to  Bokhara,  where  one  and  the 
same  dish  satisfies  prince,  official,  merchant,  mcclian- 
ic,  and  peasant. 

The  man  that  has  wandered  about  throno^h  the 
deserts  of  Central  Asia  will  still  find  in  Bokhara,  in 


228  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  X. 

spite  of  all  its  wretchedness,  something  of  the  nature 
of  a  metropolis.  My  fare  now  consisted  of  good 
bread,  tea,  fruit,  and  boiled  meats.  I  had  two  shirts 
made,  and  the  comforts  of  civilized  life  became  to  me 
so  agreeable  that  I  was  really  sorry  when  I  received 
notice  from  my  friends  to  prepare  for  the  journey,  as 
they  wished  to  gain  their  remote  Eastern  homes  be- 
fore the  winter  set  in.  My  intention  was  to  keep 
them  company  provisionally  as  far  as  Samarcand, 
as  I  somewhat  dreaded  my  interview  with  the  emir, 
and  their  society  in  many  respects  would  be  of  great 
service  to  me.  I  was  to  decide  in  the  last-named 
city  whether  to  proceed  to  Khokand  and  Kashgar, 
or  to  return  alone  by  Kerki,  Karshi,  and  Herat.  My 
excellent  friends,  Hadji  Bilal  and  Hadji  Salih,  did 
not  wish  to  influence  me,  but  to  provide  for  the  case 
of  a  possible  return.  Desirous  as  far  as  they  could 
to  aid  me,  they  had  introduced  me  to  a  kervanbashi 
from  Herat,  who  was  staying  in  Bokhara,  and  thought 
of  finally  returning  in  three  weeks  to  the  former  city. 
His  name  was  Mollah  Zeman :  he  had  been  former- 
ly known  to  my  friends.  They  recommended  me  to 
his  care  as  if  I  had  been  their  own  brother,  and  it 
was  determined,  if  I  returned  from  Samarcand,  that 
we  should  meet  three  weeks  afterward  in  Kerki,  on 
the  farther  bank  of  the  Oxus.  This,  the  first  step 
suggestive  of  a  final  separation,  was  very  affecting  to 
us  all.  Hitherto  I  had  found  consolation  in  the  very 
uncertainty  of  my  purpose ;  for,  to  my  fancy,  an  ex- 
tension of  my  travels  to  Kashgar,  Aksu,  and  Khoten, 
rich  in  musk — countries  to  which  no  European  be- 
fore me  had  penetrated — had  infinite  charm  and  poet- 
ical attraction. 


Chap.  X.  SALE  OF  SLAVES.  229 

But  my  thoughts  have  been  so  engaged  by  the 
memory  of  this  visit  to  Mollah  Zeman  that  I  was 
about  to  forget  to  describe  the  spot  where  I  found 
him.  It  was  in  a  caravanserai  appropriated  to  the 
trade  in  slaves.  Of  this  I  can  not  forbear  to  give 
the  reader  a  slio;ht  sketch.  The  buildino;,  which 
formed  a  square,  contained,  it  may  be,  from  thirty  to 
thirty -five  cells.  Three  wholesale  dealers  in  this 
abominable  traflSc  had  hired  these  building's  as  a  de- 
I  6t  for  the  poor  wretches,  who  were  partly  their  own 
goods  and  chattels,  and  partly  intrusted  to  them  as 
commission  brokers  for  the  Turkomans.  As  is  well 
known,  the  karaktchi,  unable  to  wait  long,  are  accus- 
tomed to  sell  their  slaves  to  some  Turkoman  who  has 
more  means  at  his  disposal.  The  latter  brings  them 
to  Bokhara,  and  is  the  chief  gainer  by  these  transac- 
tions, as  he  buys  immediately  from  the  producer.  In 
the  very  first  days  of  his  arrival  in  the  capital,  he 
sells  all  those  for  whom  he  can  find  customers  ;  the 
remainder  he  leaves  behind  him  in  the  hands  of  the 
dellal  (broker),  who  is  more  especially  the  wholesale 
dealer.  Human  beinsjs  are  sold  in  Bokhara  and 
Khiva  from  the  age  of  three  to  that  of  sixty,  unless 
they  possess  such  defects  as  cause  them  to  be  regard- 
ed as  cripples.  According  to  the  precepts  of  their 
religion,  unbelievers  alone  can  be  sold  as  slaves ;  but 
Bokhara,  that  has  nothing  more  than  the  semblance 
of  sanctity,  evades  without  scruple  such  provisions, 
and  makes  slaves  not  only  of  the  Shiite  Persians, 
who  were  declared  "  unbelievers*'"'  so  long  ago  as  1500 
by  the  Mollah  Schemseddin,  but  also  many  profess- 
ors of  the  Sunnite  tenets  themselves,  after  they  have, 


230  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chaf.  X. 

by  blows  and  maltreatment,  been  compelled  to  style 
themselves  Shiites.  It  is  only  the  Jew  Avhom  they 
pronounce  to  be  incapable,  that  is,  unworthy  of  be- 
coming a  slave,  a  mode  of  showing  their  aversion,  of 
course,  any  thing  but  disagreeable  to  the  children  of 
Israel ;  for,  although  the  Turkoman  will  make  booty 
of  his  property,  and  strip  him  of  every  thing,  he  will 
not  touch  his  body.  At  an  earlier  period,  the  Hin- 
doos also  formed  an  exception.  More  recently,  as 
they  flocked  by  Herat  into  Bokhara,  the  Tekke  or 
Sarik  began  to  lay  down  new  rules  for  their  proced- 
ure. The  unfortunate  worshiper  of  Vishnu  is  now 
first  metamorphosed  into  a  Mussulman,  then  made  a 
Shiite ;  and  not  until  this  double  conversion  has 
taken  place  is  the  honor  conferred  upon  him  of  being 
plundered  of  all  his  property,  and  being  reduced  to 
the  condition  of  a  slave. 

The  slave  exposed  to  sale  is,  when  a  male,  made 
the  subject  of  public  examination :  the  seller  is 
obliged  to  guarantee  that  he  has  none  of  those  moral 
or  bodily  defects  which  constitute  to  his  knowledge 
latent  unsoundness;  that  is  to  say,  where,  though 
they  are  not  discernible  to  the  eye,  they  exist  in  a  ru- 
dimentary state. 

To  the  slave  himself,  the  happiest  hour  is  when  he 
passes  out  of  the  hand  of  the  slave-dealer ;  for  no 
treatment,  however  hard,  which  awaits  him  with  his 
eventual  master,  can  be  so  oppressive  and  painful  as 
that  which  he  has  to  pass  through  while  he  remains 
an  article  of  commerce  exposed  for  sale  in  the  shop. 

The  price  varies  with  the  political  circumstances 
of  the  Turkomans,  according  as  they  find  (for  upon 


Chap.  X.  FINANCES  EXHAUSTED.— CARAVAN  SEPARATES.    231 

such  does  the  production  of  the  article  depend)  great- 
er or  less  facility  for  their  alaman  in  the  adjoining 
district.  For  instance :  at  the  present  day  the  high- 
est price  of  a  man  in  the  maturity  of  his  strength  is 
from  40  to  50  tilla  (about  from  <£21-£3G);  after  a 
victory,  when  18,000  Persian  soldiers  had  been  made 
prisoners  at  one  time,  a  man  was  to  be  had  for  a  sum 
of  3  or  4  tillas. 

After  having  staid  twenty-two  days  in  Bokhara  I 
found  it  impossible  any  longer  to  delay  my  friends, 
and  it  was  arranged  that  we  should  at  once  start  for 
Samarcand.  Our  living  in  Bokhara,  as  no  one  here, 
however  liberal  with  his  shakings  of  the  hand,  gave 
us  a  single  farthing,  had  very  much  impaired  our 
finances.  What  we  had  been  able  to  make  in  Khiva 
was  all  exhausted,  and,  like  many  of  my  companions, 
I  had  been  forced  to  dispose  of  my  ass,  and  hence- 
forth our  journey  was  to  be  continued  in  a  hired  two- 
wheeled  cart.  Particular  members  of  our  caravan, 
who  belonged  to  Khokand  or  Khodjend,  had  already 
parted  from  us,  and  gone  their  own  several  ways 
alone.  Those  who  had  hitherto  remained  together 
were  natives  of  Endighan  or  Chinese  Tartars.  These, 
however,  in  proceeding  to  Samarcand,  selected  differ- 
ent routes.  Hadji  Salih,  Hadji  BilaFs  party,  and  my-  *" 
self  determined  upon  following  the  straight  road ; 
the  others,  who  were  on  foot,  were  anxious  to  under- 
take a  pilgrimage,  by  way  of  Gidjdovan,  to  tlie  tomb 
of  the  saint  Abdul  Khalik.  * 

*  Khodja  Abdul  Khalik  (named  Gidjovaui,  died  1601)  was 
contemporary  with  the  famous  Payende  Zamini,  and  stands  iu 
high  repute  for  learning,  asceticism,  and  sanctity. 


232  TRAVELS  IN  CKNTEAL  ASIA.  Cuai-.  X. 

Many  Bokhariots,  on  my  return,  intimated  a  wish 
to  accompany  me  to  Mecca.  I  therefore  was  obliged 
to  employ  much  delicate  diplomacy,  for  certainly 
their  company  would  have  been  a  source  of  great  em- 
barrassment in  either  case,  whether  we  found  our- 
selves before  the  Kaaba  or  on  the  banks  of  the 
Thames ! 

I  took  leave  of  all  my  friends  and  acquaintances. 
Hahmet  Bi  gave  me  letters  of  introduction  for  Sa- 
marcand,  and  I  promised  to  wait  upon  the  emir  there. 
The  Khokand  vehicle,  which  we  had  hired  to  convey 
us  as  far  as  Samarcand,  had  been  previously  sent  on 
to  wait  for  us  at  the  village  Baveddin,  to  which  place 
of  pilgrimage  we  had  now,  according  to  the  custom 
of  the  country,  to  pay  our  second  visit — our  visit  of 
adieu.  This  village  is  distant  two  leagues  from  Bok- 
hara, and  is,  as  before  said,  the  place  of  interment  of 
the  renowned  Baha-ed-din  Nakishbend,  founder  of 
the  order  bearing  the  same  name,  and  the  chief  fount- 
ain of  all  those  extravagances  of  religion  which  dis- 
tinguish Eastern  from  Western  Islamism.  Without 
entering  into  more  details,  suffice  it  to  mention  that 
Baha-ed-din  is  venerated  as  the  national  saint  of 
Turkestan,  as  a  second  Mohammed ;  and  the  Bok- 
hariot  is  firmly  persuaded  that  the  cry  alone  of  a 
"Baha-ed-din  belagerdan"*  is  sufficient  to  save  from 
all  misfortune.  Pilgrimages  are  made  to  this  place, 
even  from  the  most  remote  parts  of  China.  It  is  the 
practice  in  Bokhara  to  come  hither  every  week,  and 
the  intercourse  is  maintained  with  the  metropolis  by 
means  of  about  300  asses  that  ply  for  hire.  These 
*  "  Oh  Baha-ed-din,  thou  averter  of  evil !" 


Chap.  X.  BAHA-ED-DIN.  233 

stand  before  the  Dervaze  Mezar,  and  may  be  had  for 
a  few  pul  (small  copper  coins).  Although  the  road, 
in  many  places,  passes  over  deep  sand,  these  animals 
run  with  indescribable  speed  on  their  journey  to  the 
village ;  but,  Avhat  is  considered  very  surprising,  they 
can  not,  without  repeated  blows,  be  induced  to  re- 
turn. The  Bokhariot  ascribes  this  circumstance  to 
the  feeling  of  devotion  that  the  saint  inspires  even  in 
brutes;  for  do  they  not  run  to  his  tomb,  and  evince 
the  greatest  indisposition  to  quit  it  ? 

The  tomb  is  in  a  small  garden.  On  one  side  is  a 
mosque.  This  may  be  approached  through  a  court 
filled  with  blind  or  crippled  mendicants,  the  perse- 
verance of  whose  applications  would  put  to  shame 
those  of  the  same  profession  in  Rome  or  Naples.  In 
the  front  of  the  tomb  is  the  famous  senghi  murad 
(stone  of  desire),  which  has  been  tolerably  ground 
away  and  made  smooth  by  the  numerous  foreheads 
of  pious  pilgrims  that  have  been  rubbed  upon  it. 
Over  the  tomb  are  placed  several  rams'  horns  and  a 
banner;  also  a  broom  that  served  a  lonn  time  to 
sweep  out  the  sanctuary  in  Mecca.  Attempts  have 
also  been  made  upon  several  occasions  to  cover  the 
whole  with  a  dome,  but  Baha-ed-din,  like  many  other 
saints  in  Turkestan,  has  a  preference  for  the  open  air, 
and  every  edifice  has  been  thrown  down  after  a  lapse 
of  three  days  from  its  first  erection.  Such  is  the  tale 
told  by  the  sheikhs,  descendants  of  the  first  saint, 
who  keep  watch  in  turn  before  the  tomb,  and  recount, 
with  impudence  enough,  to  the  pilgrims  that  their 
ancestor  was  particularly  fond  of  the  number  seven. 
In  the  seventh  month  he  came  into  the  world,  in  his 


234  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.        Chap.  X. 

seventh  year  he  knew  the  Koran  by  heart,  and  in  his 
seventieth  he  died.  Hence  also  the  contributions 
and  gifts  laid  upon  his  grave  are  to  have  the  pecul- 
iarity that  they  must  not  be  any  thing  else  than  mul- 
tiples of  seven,  or  the  number  seven  itself 

A  quarter  of  a  league  from  the  tomb  of  Baha-ed- 
din,  in  an  open  field,  is  that  of  Miri  Kulah,  the  mas- 
ter and  spiritual  chief  of  the  former.  But  the  mas- 
ter is  far  from  enjoying  the  same  honor  and  repute 
as  the  disciple. 


Chap.  XI.  BOKHARA  TO  SAMARCAND.  235 


CHAPTER  XL 


EOKH.VEA  TO  SAMARCAND. — LITTLE  DESERT  OF  CHOL  MELIK. — ANIMATION  OF 
THE  ROAD  OWING  TO  WAR. — FIRST  VIEW  OF  SAMARCAND. — HASZRETI  SUAH 
ZINDE.  —  MOSQUE  OF  TIMOUR. — CITADEL  (ARK). — RECEPTION  HALL  OF  TI- 
MODR. — KOKTASH,  OK  TLMOUR'S  THRONE. — SINGULAR  FOOTSTOOL. — TIMOUR'S 
SEPULCHRE    AND    THAT   OF    HIS   PRECEPTOR.  —  AUTHOR   VISITS    THE   ACTUAL 

TOMB  OF  TIMOUR    IN   THE   SOUTEREAIN. FOLIO  KORAN  ASCRIBED  TO   OSSLAN, 

MOHAMMED'S   SECRETARY. COLLEGES .  —  ANCIENT    OBSERVATORY. GREEK 

ARMENIAN  LIBRARY  NOT,  AS  PRETENDED,  CARRIED  OFF  BY  TIMOUR. — ARCHI- 
TECTURE OF  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  NOT  CHINESE,  BUT  PERSIAN. —  MODERN  SA- 
MARCAND.  ITS    POPULATION. DEHBID. AUTHOR    DECIDES    TO    RETURN. 

ARRIVAL    OF  THE    EMIR. AUTHOR'S  INTERVIEW  WITH  HIM. FARTING   FROM 

THE  HADJIS,  AND  DEPARTURE   FROM   SAMARCAND. 


'■^Hinc  quarto  die  ad  Maracanda  perventum  est.  .  ,  .  Scythice  cortjinis  est  regio, 
hahitaturque  pluribus  ac  frequentibus  vicis,  quia  uhertas  terrce  non  indigenas  modo 
detinet,  sed  etiam  advenas  invitat.^^ — Q.  Curtii  Rufi,  libb.  vii.  et  viii. 


Our  whole  caravan  had  now,  on  starting  from 
Bokhara  for  Samarcand,  dwindled  down  to  two 
carts.  In  one  of  these  sat  Hadji  Salih  and  myself; 
in  the  other,  Hadji  Bilal  and  his  party.  Sheltered 
from  the  sun  by  a  matting  awning,  I  should  have 
been  glad  to  settle  myself  quietly  on  my  carpet ;  but 
this  was  impossible,  owing  to  the  violent  motion  of 
our  very  primitive  vehicle:  it  disposed  of  us  "at  its 
own  sweet  will,"  shaking  us  now  here,  now  there; 
our  heads  were  continually  cannoning  each  other 
like  balls  on  a  billiard-table.  During  the  first  few 
hours  I  felt  quite  sea -sick,  having  suffered  much 
more  than  I  had  done  when  on  the  camels,  the  phip- 
like  movements   of  which  I  had  formerly  so  much 


236  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XI. 

dreaded.  The  poor  horse,  harnessed  to  the  broad 
heavy  cart,  besides  having  to  make  the  clumsy 
wheels — far  from  perfect  circles — revolve  laborious- 
ly through  the  deep  sand  or  mud,  was  obliged  also 
to  convey  the  driver  and  his  j)rovision  sack.  The 
Turkoman  is  right  in  doubting  whether  the  Bokha- 
riot  will  ever  be  ready  to  justify  in  another  world 
his  maltreatment  of  the  horse — the  noblest  of  the 
brute  creation. 

As  it  was  night  when  we  started  from  Baha-ed- 
din,  the  driver  (a  native  of  Khokand),  not  sufficiently 
familiar  with  the  road,  mistook  his  way,  so  that,  in- 
stead of  midnight,  it  M'as  morning  before  we  reached 
the  little  town  of  Mezar.  It  is  distant  from  Bokha- 
ra five  tash  (fersakh),  and  is  regarded  as  the  first  sta- 
tion on  the  road  to  Samarcand.  We  halted  here  but 
a  short  time,  and  about  noon  arrived  at  Sheikh  Ka- 
sim,  where  we  encountered  some  of  our  brother  pil- 
grims. They  were  taking  the  road  by  Gicljdovan. 
We  consequently  indulged  ourselves  by  remaining 
there  quietly  together  until  late  at  night. 

I  had  heard  many  wonderful  accounts  of  the  flour- 
ishing cultivation  of  the  country  between  Bokhara 
and  Samarcand,  but  thus  far  I  had  seen  nothing  as- 
tonishing during  our  day's  journey,  nothing  at  all 
corresponding  to  my  high-wrought  expectations.  Wo 
perceived,  indeed,  every  where,  and  on  both  sides  of 
the  road,  with  rare  exceptions,  the  land  under  culti- 
vation ;  the  following  day,  however,  a  real  surprise 
awaited  me.  We  had  passed  the  little  desert  of  Choi 
Melik  (six  leagues  in  length  by  four  in  breadth), 
where  there  are  a  caravanserai  and  water  reservoir. 


Chap.  XI.  BOKHARA  TO  SAMARCAND.  237 

and  at  last  reached  the  district  of  Kermineh,  which 
constitutes  the  third  day's  station.  We  now  passed 
every  hour,  sometimes  every  half  hour,  a  small  ba- 
zarli  djay  (market-place),  where  there  were  several 
inns  and  houses  for  the  sale  of  provisions,  and  where 
gigantic  Russian  tea-kettles,  ever  on  the  boil,  are  held 
to  be  the  ne  2^lus  ultra  of  refinement  and  of  comfort. 
These  villages  have  quite  a  different  character  from 
those  in  Persia  and  Turkey,  the  farm-yards  are  bet- 
ter filled  with  earth's  blessings ;  and  were  there  only 
more  trees,  we  might  say  that  all  the  way  from  the 
Pontos  Mountains  this  is  the  only  country  resem- 
bling our  own  in  the  far  West.  About  midday  we 
halted  at  Kermineh,  in  a  lovely  garden,  on  the  side 
of  a  reservoir,  where  we  found  abundant  shade.  My 
friends  seemed  to  endear  themselves  to  me  more  and 
more  the  nearer  the  moment  of  our  separation  ap- 
proached ;  it  appeared  impossible  that  I  was  to  jour- 
ney alone  that  long  way  back  from  Samarcand  to 
Europe !  We  started  from  Kermineh  about  sunset, 
considering  that  the  freshness  of  the  night  would 
lighten,  in  some  respects,  the  torments  of  our  over- 
tasked horse ;  at  midnight  we  halted  again  for  two 
hours,  as  we  hoped  to  reach  our  station  the  next 
morning,  before  the  heat  of  the  day  commenced.  I 
remarked  in  many  places  along  the  road  square  mile- 
stones, some  entire,  others  broken,*  which  owe  their 
erection  to  Timour;  nor  need  this  surprise  us,  for 
Marco  Polo,  in  the  time  of  Oktai,  found  regular  post- 

*  The  Turkish  word  for  stone  is  tash,  which  is  also  used  to 
denote  mile.  So  the  Persian  word  fersang  (in  modern  Persian 
fersakh)  is  compounded  of  fer  (liigli)  and  seng  (stone). 


238  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA..  Chap.  XI. 

roads  in  Central  Asia.  The  whole  way  from  Bok- 
hara to  Kashgar  is  said,  indeed,  still  to  bear  marks 
of  an  ancient  civilization  which,  although  with  fre- 
quent intervals,  is  nevertheless  traceable  far  into 
China.  The  present  emir,  also  wishing  to  distin- 
guish himself,  has  caused  in  several  places  small  ter- 
races to  be  raised  for  purposes  of  prayer,  these  serv- 
ing as  a  sort  of  occasional  mosques,  and  mementoes 
to  passers-by  to  fulfill  their  religious  duties.  So 
each  age  has  its  own  peculiar  objects  in  view ! 

The  evening  we  passed  at  the  village  Mir,  taking 
up  our  quarters  there  in  the  mosque.  This  rises  from 
the  centre  of  a  pretty  flower-garden.  I  lay  down  to 
sleep  near  a  reservoir,  but  was  startled  out  of  my 
slumber  by  a  troop  of  quarrelsome  Turkomans.  They 
were  the  Tekke  horsemen  who  had  served  the  emir 
as  auxiliaries  in  his  campaign  against  Khokand,  and 
were  now  returning  to  Merv  with  the  booty  they  had 
taken  from  the  Kirghis.  The  emir,  in  his  anxiety 
to  civilize  them,  had  presented  many  with  a  white 
turban,  and  hoped  that  they  would  throw  aside  alto- 
gether their  wild  fur  caps.  They  wore  them  as  long 
as  they  were  under  the  eye  of  the  emir,  but  I  heard 
that  they  had  subsequently  sold  them  all. 

From  Mir  we  proceeded  to  Kette  Kurgan  ("great 
fortress").  It  is  the  seat  of  a  government,  and  has 
the  most  famous  shoemakers  in  the  whole  khanat. 
This  fortress  is  defended  by  a  strong  wall  and  deep 
fosse.  By  night  no  one  is  permitted  either  to  pass 
in  or  out ;  we  therefore  remained  in  a  caravanserai 
on  the  road  outside  the  fort.  There  were  wagons 
every  where ;  the  roads,  indeed,  in  all  directions  pre- 


Chap.  XI.      LEAVE  KETTE  KURGAN.— REACH  DAUL.  239 

sented  a  bustling  and  singularly  animated  appear- 
ance :  this  was  to  be  ascribed  to  the  war,  that  em- 
ploys all  conveyances  between  Bokhara  and  Kho- 
kand.  From  Kette  Kurgan  a  distinct  way  leads 
through  the  desert  to  Karshi,  and  is  said  to  be  four 
leagues  shorter  than  the  usual  one  thither  from  Sa- 
marcand ;  but  travelers  are  obliged  to  take  their  wa- 
ter with  them,  as  there  are  very  few  wells  that  human 
beings  can  use,  although  there  are  several  fit  for  cat- 
tle. I  found  the  drivers  and  peasants  discussing  po- 
litical subjects  before  the  tea-shops,  the  prohibitions 
here  not  being  enforced  as  in  Bokhara.  The  poor 
people  are  enchanted  when  they  hear  of  the  heroic 
acts  of  their  emir ;  they  recount  that  he  has  already 
forced  his  way  from  Khokand  into  China,  and  after 
he  has  there  in  the  East  reduced  all  under  his  scep- 
tre, he  will,  they  insist,  proceed  to  take  possession  of 
Iran,  Afghanistan,  India,  and  Frenghistan  (these  they 
consider  as  adjoining  counties),  as  far  as  Roum :  the 
whole  world,  in  fact,  is,  according  to  them,  to  be  di- 
vided between  the  sultan  and  the  emir! 

After  having  left  behind  me  Karasu,  which  is  a 
place  of  some  importance,  we  reached  Daul,  the  fifth 
station,  and  the  last  before  coming  to  Samarcand  it- 
self. Our  road  passed  over  some  hills,  from  which 
we  could  perceive  extensive  woods  stretching  away 
on  our  left.  I  was  told  that  they  reach  half  way  to 
Bokhara,  and  serve  as  retreats  to  the  Ozbeg  tribes 
Khitai  and  Kiptchak,  which  are  often  at  enmity  with 
the  emir.  Being  familiar  with  all  the  secret  corners 
and  recesses  of  their  own  forests,  they  are  not  easily 
assailable. 


240  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XI. 

What  I  heard  in  Bokhara  had  very  much  dimin- 
ished in  my  eyes  the  historical  importance  of  Samar- 
cand.  I  can  not,  however,  describe  my  feeling  of  cu- 
riosity when  they  pointed  out  to  me,  on  the  east, 
Mount  Chobanata,  at  whose  foot  was  situate,  I  was 
told,  tlie  Mecca  I  so  longed  to  see.  I  therefore  gazed 
intently  in  the  direction  indicated,  and  at  last,  on 
toiling  up  a  hill,  I  beheld  the  city  of  Timour  in  the 
middle  of  a  fine  country.  I  must  confess  that  the 
first  impression  produced  by  the  domes  and  minarets, 
with  their  various  colors,  all  bathed  in  the  beams  of 
the  morning  sun — the  peculiarity,  in  short,  of  the 
whole  scene — was  very  pleasing. 

As  Samarcand,  both  by  the  charm  of  its  past  and 
its  remoteness,  is  regarded  in  Europe  as  something 
extraordinary,  we  will,  as  we  can  not  make  use  of  the 
pencil,  endeavor  to  draw  a  view  of  the  city  with  the 
pen.  I  must  beg  the  reader  to  take  a  seat  in  the 
cart  by  my  side ;  he  will  then  see  to  the  east  the 
mountain  I  before  mentioned.  Its  dome-like  summit 
is  crowned  by  a  small  edifice,  in  Avhich  rests  Choba- 
nata (the  holy  patron  of  shepherds).  Below  lies  the 
city.  Although  it  equals  Teheran  in  circumference, 
its  houses  do  not  lie  so  close  together ;  still,  the 
prominent  buildings  and  ruins  offer  a  far  more  mag- 
nificent prospect.  The  eye  is  most  struck  by  four 
lofty  edifices,  in  the  form  of  half  domes,  the  fore- 
fronts or  frontispieces  of  the  medresse  (pishtak). 
They  seemed  all  to  be  near  together ;  but  some,  in 
fact,  are  in  the  background.  As  we  advance  we  per- 
ceive first  a  small  neat  dome,  and  farther  on  to  the 
south  a  larger  and  more  imposing  one ;  the  former 


Chap.  XI.  SAIVIAKCAND.  241 

is  the  tomb,  the  latter  the  mosque,  of  Timour.  Quite 
facing  us,  on  the  southwesterly  limit  of  the  city,  on  a 
hill,  rises  the  citadel  (ark),  round  which  other  build- 
ings, partly  mosques  and  partly  tombs,  are  grouped. 
If  we  then  suppose  the  whole  intermixed  with  close- 
ly planted  gardens,  we  shall  have  a  faint  idea  of 
Samarcand — a  faint  one ;  for  I  say  with  the  Persian 
proverb 

"  When  will  hearing  be  like  seeing  ?"* 

But,  alas!  why  need  I  add  that  the  impression 
produced  by  its  exterior  was  weakened  as  we  ap- 
proached, and  entirely  dissipated  by  our  entry  into 
the  place  itself?  Bitter  indeed  the  disappointment 
in  the  case  of  a  city  like  Samarcand,  so  difficult  of 
access,  and  a  knowledge  of  which  has  to  be  so  dearly 
acquired;  and  when  we  drove  in  through  the  Der- 
vaze  Bokhara,  and  had  to  pass  through  the  greater 
part  of  the  cemetery  to  reach  the  inhabited  part  of 
the  town,  I  thought  of  the  Persian  verse, 

"  Samarcand  is  the  focus  of  the  whole  globe."f 

In  spite  of  all  my  enthusiasm,  I  burst  out  into  a  loud 
lit  of  laughter.  We  first  proceeded  to  a  caravanserai, 
on  the  side  of  the  bazar,  where  hadjis  have  quarters 
awarded  to  them  gratuitously;  but  the  very  same 
evening  we  were  invited  to  a  private  house  situate 
beyond  the  bazar,  near  the  tomb  of  Timour,  and  what 
was  my  joy  and  surprise  when  I  learned  that  our  host 
fortunately  was  an  officer  of  the  emir,  and  intrusted 
Avith  the  surveillance  of  the  palace  in  Samarcand ! 

*  "  Shuniden  kei  buved  manendi  diden." 
f  "  Samarkand  seikeli  rui  zemiu  est." 

Q 


24:2  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Cuap.  XI. 

As  the  return  of  the  emir  from  Khokand,  where 
he  had  just  terminated  a  victorious  campaign,  was 
announced  to  take  place  in  a  few  days,  my  compan- 
ions decided  to  wait  in  Samarcand,  on  my  account, 
till  I  had  seen  the  emir,  and  until  I  found  other  hadj- 
is  passing  whose  company  I  could  join  on  my  re- 
turn journey.  In  the  interval  I  passed  my  time  vis- 
iting all  that  was  worth  seeing  in  the  city,  for,  in  spite 
of  its  miserable  apj^earance,  it  is,  in  this  respect,  the 
richest  in  all  Central  Asia. 

In  my  character  as  hadji  I  naturally  began  with 
the  saints ;  but  as  all,  even  what  is  historically  in- 
teresting, is  intimately  blended  with  some  holy  legend, 
I  felt  it  a  very  agreeable  duty  to  see  every  thing. 

They  enumerate  here  several  hundred  places  of 
pilgrimage,  but  we  will  only  particularize  the  more 
remarkable : 

Hazreti  Shah  Zinde  {Summe^^  Palace  of  Timour). 

The  proper  name  is  Kasim  bin  Abbas.  He  is  said 
to  have  been  a  Koreishite,  and  consequently  stands 
here  in  the  highest  repute,  as  the  chief  of  those  Arabs 
who  introduced  Islamism  into  Samarcand.  His  sep- 
ulchre lies  without  the  city,  to  the  northwest,  near 
the  wall  and  the  edifice  that  served  the  great  Timour 
as  a  summer  residence.  The  latter  has  retained  even 
to  the  present  day  much  of  its  ancient  splendor  and 
luxury.  All  these  structures  are  situate  upon  eleva- 
ted ground,  and  are  approached  by  an  ascent  of  forty 
tolerably  broad  marble  steps.  On  reaching  the  sum- 
mit, one  is  conducted  to  a  building  lying  at  the  end 
of  a  small  garden.     Here  several  little  corridors  lead 


Chap.  XI.  PLACES  OF  PILGRIMAGE.  243 

to  a  large  apartment,  from  which,  by  a  small  gloomy 
path,  you  arrive  at  the  equally  gloomy  tomb  of  the 
saint.  Besides  the  room  above  mentioned,  there  are 
others  whose  colored  bricks  and  mosaic  pavement 
produce  as  brilliant  an  effect  as  if  they  were  the 
work  of  yesterday. 

Each  different  room  that  we  entered  had  to  be  sa- 
luted with  two  rikaat  namaz.  My  knees  began  to 
ache  when  they  led  me  on  into  a  room  paved  with 
marble.  Three  flags,  an  old  sword,  and  breastplate 
were  presented  to  be  kissed  as  relics  of  the  reno^Mied 
emir.  This  act  of  homage  I  did  not  decline  any  more 
than  my  companions,  although  I  entertained  great 
doubt  whether  the  objects  themselves  are  authentic. 
I  heard  also  of  a  sword,  breastplate,  Koran,  and  other 
relics  of  the  saint,  but  I  could  not  get  sight  of  them. 
Opposite  to  this  edifice  the  reigning  emir  has  erected 
a  small  medresse,  which  looks  like  the  stable  of  a 
palace. 

Mesdjidi  Timour  {the  Mosque  of  Timour). 

This  mosque  is  situate  on  the  south  side  of  the 
city:  in  size,  and  painted  brick  decorations,  it  has 
much  resemblance  to  the  Mesdjidi  Shah  in  Ispahan, 
which  was  built  by  order  of  Abbas  II.  The  dome 
differs,  however ;  it  is  in  the  form  of  a  melon,  which 
is  never  the  case  in  Persia.  The  inscriptions  from 
the  Koran,  in  gold  Sulus  lettering,  next  to  those  at 
the  ruins  of  Sultanieh,  are  the  finest  I  ever  saw. 

ArTc  (Citadel — IiecejDtion  Hcdl  of  Timour). 
The  ascent  to  the  ark  is  tolerably  steep ;  it  is  di- 


244  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XI. 

vided  into  two  parts,  of  which  the  outer  is  composed 
of  private  dwellings,  whereas  the  other  is  only  used 
for  the  reception  of  the  emir. 

The  palace  had  been  described  to  me  as  extremely 
curious ;  it  is,  however,  a  very  ordinary  edifice,  and  is 
scarcely  a  century  old,  and  I  confess  I  found  nothing 
remarkable  in  it.  First  they  showed  me  the  apart- 
ments of  the  emir:  among  these  the  aynekhane,  which 
is  a  room  composed  of  fragments  of  looking-glass, 
passing  for  a  wonder  of  the  world  ;  but  to  me  it  had 
far  less  interest  than  the  place  designated  talari  Ti- 
mour,  or  "reception-hall  of  Timour.''  This  is  a  long- 
narrow  court,  having  round  it  a  covered  foot -pave- 
ment or  cloister.  The  side  that  fronts  you  contains 
the  celebrated  koktash  (green  stone),  upon  which  Ti- 
mour  caused  his  throne  to  be  placed :  to  it  flocked 
vassals  from  all  parts  of  the  world  to  do  homage, 
and  were  ranged  there  according  to  their  rank ;  while 
in  the  central  space,  that  resembled  an  arena,  three 
heralds  sat  ready  mounted  to  convey,  on  the  instant, 
the  words  of  the  conqueror  of  the  world  to  the  far- 
thest end  of  the  hall.  As  the  green  stone  is  four  feet 
and  a  half  high,  some  prisoner  of  illustrious  birth  was 
always  forced  to  serve  as  a  footstool.  It  is  singular 
that,  according  to  the  tradition,  this  colossal  stone 
(ten  feet  long,  four  broad,  and  four  and  a  half  high) 
was  transported  hither  from  Broussa.  Fixed  in  the 
wall  to  the  right  of  this  stone  is  a  j^rominent  oval 
piece  of  iron,  like  half  a  cocoanut ;  upon  it  there  is 
an  inscription  in  Arabic,  engraved  in  Kufish  letters. 
It  is  said  to  have  been  brought  from  the  treasury  of 
the  sultan,  Bayazid  Yildirin,  and  to  have  served  one 


CuAP.  XI,  ANCIENT  MONUMENT.  245 

of  the  khalifs  as  an  amulet.  I  saw,  high  above  the 
stone  on  the  wall,  two  firmans,  written  in  golden  Di- 
vani  letters,  one  from  Sultan  Mahmoud,  the  other 
from  Sultan  Abdul  Medjid.  They  were  sent  to  Emir 
Said  and  Emir  Nasrullah  from  Constantinople,  and 
contained  both  the  rukhsati-namaz  (official  permis- 
sion for  the  prayer)*  and  the  investiture  in  the  func- 
tions of  a  reis  (guardian  of  religion),  which  the  emirs 
formerly  made  it  a  point  of  etiquette  to  receive.  The 
emirs,  nowadays,  content  themselves  on  their  acces- 
sion with  doing  homage  at  the  koktash ;  and  the 
stone  is  no  longer  used  but  for  this  purpose,  and  as  a 
place  of  pilgrimage  for  pious  hadjis,  who  say  three 
fatihas,  and  rub  their  heads  with  peculiar  unction 
upon  that  monument  whence,  once,  every  word  utter- 
ed by  their  glorious  monarch  echoed  as  a  command 
to  the  remotest  parts  of  Asia.  Timour  is  sjDoken  of 
in  Samarcand  as  if  the  news  of  his  death  had  only  just 
arrived  from  Otrar ;  and  the  question  was  put  to  me, 
as  Osmanli,  what  my  feelings  were  on  approaching 
the  tomb  of  a  sovereign  who  had  inflicted  upon  "our" 
sultan  so  terrible  a  defeat. 

Turheti  Timour  (Timour' s  Sepulchre). 

This  monument  lies  to  the  southwest,  and  consists 
of  a  neat  chapel,  crowned  with  a  splendid  dome,  and 
encircled  by  a  wall ;  in  the  latter  there  is  a  high 
arched  gate,  and  on  both  sides  are  two  small  domes, 
miniature  representations  of  the  large  one  first  men- 
tioned.    The  space  between  the  wall  and  the  chapel 

*  The  Friday  prayer,  which  no  Snnnite  could  or  can  pronounce 
until  the  khalif  or  his  successor  has  first  done  so. 


246  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XI. 

is  filled  with  trees,  and  should  represent  a  garden, 
but  great  neglect  is  now  apparent  there.  The  en- 
trance into  the  chapel  is  on  the  west,  and  its  front, 
according  to  the  law,  is  toward  the  south  (kible). 
On  entering,  one  finds  one's  self  in  a  sort  of  vestibule, 
which  leads  directly  into  the  chapel  itself.  This  is 
octagonal,  and  ten  short  paces  in  diameter.  In  the 
middle,  under  the  dome,  that  is  to  say,  in  the  place 
of  honor,  there  are  two  tombs,  placed  lengthwise, 
with  the  head  in  the  direction  of  Mecca.  One  is  cov- 
ered with  a  very  fine  stone  of  a  dark  green  color,  two 
and  a  half  spans  broad  and  ten  long,  and  about  the 
thickness  of  six  fingers.  It  is  laid  flat,  in  two  pieces,* 
over  the  grave  of  Timour ;  the  other  has  a  black 
stone,  of  about  the  same  length,  but  somewhat  broad- 
er. This  is  the  tomb  of  Mir  Seid  Berke,  the  teacher 
and  spiritual  chief  of  Timour,  at  whose  side  the 
mighty  emir  gratefully  desired  to  be  buried.  Round 
about  lie  other  tomb-stones,  great  and  small,  those  of 
wives,  grandsons,  and  great-grandsons  of  the  emir ; 
but,  if  I  do  not  err,  their  bodies  were  brought  thith- 
er at  a  subsequent  period  from  diff'erent  parts  of  the 
city.  The  inscriptions  upon  the  tombs  are  in  Per- 
sian and  Arabic ;  no  enumeration  of  titles  is  there, 
and  even  that  of  the  emir  is  very  simple.  The  fam- 
ily name,  Koreghen,  is  never  omitted. 

As  for  the  interior  of  the  chapel,  arabesques  in 
alabaster,  whose  gildings  are  in  rich  contrast  with  a 

*  Different  reasons  are  assigned  for  this.  Some  say  that  the 
victorious  Nadir  Shah  ordered  it  to  be  sent  to  him,  and  that  it 
was  broken  on  the  journey.  Others  affirm  that  it  was  original- 
ly in  two  pieces,  and  the  present  of  a  Chinese  (Mongol)  princess. 


Chap.  XI.  TIMOUR'S  SEPULCHRE.  24T 

lovely  azure,  bear  evidence  of  taste  truly  artistic,  and 
produce  an  effect  surprisingly  beautiful.  It  reminds 
us,  but  can  give  only  a  faint  idea,  of  the  inside  of 
the  sepulchre  of  Meesume  Fatma  in  Kom  (Persia).* 
While  the  latter  is  too  much  filled,  the  former  is  sim- 
ply and  modestly  beautiful.  At  the  head  of  the 
graves  are  two  rahle  (table  with  two  leaves,  upon 
which,  in  the  East,  are  laid  sacred  volumes),  where 
the  mollahs  day  and  night  read  in  turn  the  Koran, 
and  contrive  to  extract  from  the  vakf  (pious  founda- 
tion) of  the  turbe  a  good  salary.  They,  as  well  as 
the  mutevali  (stewards),  are  taken  from  the  Nogai 
Tartars,  because  the  emir  expressed  in  his  will  the 
desire  that  the  watch  over  him  should  be  intrusted 
to  this  race,  which  had  always  been  particularly  well 
disposed  toward  him.  I  paid  my  visit  to  the  in- 
spector, and  was  forced  to  remain  his  guest  the  Avhole 
day.  As  a  mark  of  his  peculiar  favor,  he  permitted 
me  to  view  the  actual  grave,  an  honor  which,  he  as- 
sured me,  was  rarely  accorded  even  to  natives.  We 
descended  by  a  small  long  staircase  behind  the  en- 
trance. It  leads  directly  into  a  room  below  the 
chapel,  not  only  of  the  same  size,  but  resembling  it 
closely  in  all  its  arabesque  decorations.  The  tombs 
here  are  also  in  the  same  order  as  those  above,  but 
not  so  numerous.  It  is  said  that  Timour's  grave 
contains  great  treasures ;  but  this  can  not  be  true,  as 

*  A  sister  of  the  Imam  Riza,  who,  after  having  long  implored, 
at  last  obtained  permission  from  Meemun  Khalife  to  visit  her 
brother,  who  was  living  as  an  exile  in  Tus  (Meshed).  On  the 
journey  thither  she  died  at  Kom,  and  her  tomb  is  a  highly  ven- 
erated place  of  pilgrimage  in  Persia. 


248  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.       Chap.  XI. 

it  would  be  an  infraction  of  the  law.  Here  again  is 
a  rahle,  with  a  Koran  lying  upon  it  in  folio,  written 
upon  the  skin  of  a  gazelle.  I  was  informed  in  many 
quarters,  and  upon  good  authority,  that  this  was  the 
same  copy  that  Osman,  Mohammed's  secretary,  and 
the  second  khalif,  wrote,  and  that  this  relic  Timour 
had  brought  with  him  out  of  the  treasury  of  the  Sul- 
tan Bajazet,  from  Broussa,  and  that  it  is  here  con- 
cealed as  a  precious  deposit,  inasmuch  as  Bokhara, 
if  publicly  known  to  possess  it,  would  be  certainly 
regarded  with  ill-will  by  the  other  Mussulman  poten- 
tates. 

On  the  front  of  the  turbe,  in  the  very  place  to 
strike  the  eyes  of  all,  we  read  the  inscription,  written 
in  white  letters  upon  a  blue  ground : 

"This  is  the  work  of  poor  Abdullah,  the  son  of  Mah- 
moud  of  Ispahan."  I  could  not  ascertain  the  date. 
About  a  hundred  paces  from  the  building  which  I 
have  described  is  another  dome  of  simple  architect- 
ure, but  considerable  antiquity,  where  reposes  one  of 
Timour's  favorite  wives,  also  venerated  as  a  saint. 
Quite  above,  on  the  side  of  the  dome,  hangs  a  sort 
of  skein,  said  to  contain  muy  seadet  (hair  from  the 
beard  of  the  Prophet),  and  which  has  for  many  long 
years — although  the  dome  has  crevices  in  all  its  sides 
— protected  it  from  farther  decay,  s'il  vous  plait 

Medresses. 

Some  of  those  are  still  peopled ;  others  abandoned, 
and  likely  soon  to  become  perfect  ruins.     To  those 


Chap.  XI.  MEDRESSES.  249 

in  the  best  state  of  repair  belong  the  Medresse  Shi- 
rudar  and  Tillakari ;  but  these  were  built  long  sub- 
sequently to  the  time  of  Timour.  The  one  last 
named,  which  is  very  rich  in  decorations  of  gold, 
whence  its  name,  Tillakari  (worked  in  gold),  was  built 
in  1028  (1618)  by  a  rich  Kalmuk  named  Yelenktosh, 
who  was  a  convert  to  Islamism ;  and  really  that  por- 
tion called  Khanka  is  so  rich  that  it  is  only  surpass- 
ed by  the  interior  of  the  mosque  of  Imam  Riza.  Op- 
posite to  these  we  see  the  Medresse  Mirza  Ulug, 
built  in  828  (1434)  by  Timour,  grandson  of  the  same 
name,  who  was  passionately  fond  of  astrology,  but 
which,  even  in  1113  (1701),  were  in  so  ruinous  a  con- 
dition that,  to  borrow  the  exj^ression  employed  by  its 
historian,  "owls  housed,  instead  of  students,  in  its 
cells,  and  the  doors  were  hung  with  spiders'  webs  in- 
stead of  silk  curtains."  In  this  building  stood  the 
observatory,  famous  throughout  the  world,  which 
was  commenced  in  832  (1440),  under  the  direction  of 
the  savants  Gayas-ed-dir  Djemshid,  Muayin  Kashani, 
and  of  the  learned  Israelite  Silah-ed-din  Bagdadi,  but 
was  completed  under  Ali  Kushtchi.  This  was  the 
second  and  last  observatory  erected  in  Central  Asia. 
The  first  had  been  constructed  at  Maraga,  under  He- 
lagu,  by  the  learned  Nedjm-ed-din.  The  place  where 
it  had  stood  was  pointed  out  to  me,  but  I  could  only 
discern  a  slight  trace. 

These  three  medresse  form  the  principal  open  space, 
the  righistan  of  Samarcand,  which  is  smaller,  indeed, 
than  the  righistan  at  Bokhara,  but  still  filled  with 
booths,  and  ever  frequented  with  buzzing  crowds. 

At  a  distance  from  those,  and  near  the  Dervaze 


250  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XI. 

Bokhara,  are  the  extensive  ruins  of  the  once  really 
magnificent  Medresse  Hanym,  which  a  Chinese  prin- 
cess, wife  of  Timour,  erected  out  of  her  private  purse. 
It  is  said  at  one  time  to  have  accommodated  a  thou- 
sand students,  each  of  whom  received  from  the  vakf 
(foundation)  the  annual  sum  of  a  hundred  tilla.  The 
sum  may  be  regarded  as  an  Oriental  one ;  an  evi- 
dence, nevertheless,  of  by-gone  splendor  appears  in 
its  ruins,  of  which  three  walls  and  the  fore-front  or 
frontispiece  (pishtak)  still  exist ;  the  latter,  with  its 
towers  and  portal,  that  might  serve  for  a  model,  has 
its  pavement  completely  covered  with  mosaic  made 
of  earth,  the  composition  and  coloring  of  which  are 
of  incomparable  beauty,  and  so  firmly  cemented  that 
it  occasioned  me  indescribable  trouble  to  cut  away 
the  calyx  of  a  flower ;  and  even  of  this  I  could  only 
remove  in  a  perfect  state  the  innermost  part,  with 
three  leaves  folded  together.  Although  the  work  of 
destruction  is  eagerly  proceeded  with,  we  can  still 
perceive  in  the  interior,  where  at  present  the  hired 
carriages  that  ply  to  Khokand  and  Karshi  take  up 
their  quarters,  the  mosque,  with  the  wonder-working 
gigantic  rahle ;  and  many  a  century  must  the  people 
of  Samarcand  continue  to  tear  away  and  cut  down 
before  this  work  of  annihilation  is  complete. 

Besides  these  edifices,  there  are  some  other  towers 
and  dome -shaped  buildings,  the  work  of  by- gone 
days.  After  having  made  every  possible  investiga- 
tion, in  spite  of  all  exertions,  I  have  not  been  able 
to  discover  any  trace  of  that  once  famous  Armenian 
Greek  library,  which,  according  to  a  universally  ac- 
credited tradition,  the  victorious  Timour  swept  away 


Chap.  XI.  FABLES  EXPLODED.  251 

to  Samarcand  to  ornament  his  capital.  This  fable, 
so  I  must  at  once  pronounce  it,  originated  from  the 
overstrained  patriotism  of  an  Armenian  priest  named 
Hadjator,  who  insists  that  he  came  from  Cabul  to 
Samarcand,  and  discovered  in  the  latter  city  large 
folios  with  heavy  chains  (a  la  Faust)  in  those  towers, 
into  which  no  Mussubnan,  from  fear  of  djins  (genii), 
would  dare  to  venture.  The  story  was  later,  if  I 
mistake  not,  made  use  of  by  a  French  savant,  in  his 
"History  of  the  Armenians;"  and  as  we  Europeans 
are  just  as  fond  as  the  Orientals  of  amusing  ourselves 
with  subjects  that  lie  half  in  light  and  half  in  dark- 
ness, it  was  actually  believed  by  some  (that  is,  by 
those  who  busied  themselves  with  antiquities)  that 
the  mighty  Asiatic  conqueror  had  sent  back  to  his 
capital,  a  distance  of  a  hundred  stations,  some  hund- 
red mules  laden  Avith  Armenian  Greek  manuscripts, 
in  order  that  his  Tartars  might  also  familiarize  them- 
selves with  foreign  languages  and  history ! 

I  disbelieve  altogether  the  story  that  any  such  li- 
brary ever  existed;  my  opinion  is  as  strong  also  upon 
another  subject,  for  I  entirely  differ  from  those  who 
ascribe  a  Chinese  character  to  the  monuments  of 
Samarcand.  The  political  frontiers  of  China  are,  it 
is  true,  at  a  distance  of  only  ten  days'  journey,  but 
China  proper  can  only  be  reached  in  sixty  days,  and 
those  who  have  even  a  faint  idea  of  the  rigorous  line 
of  demarkation  that  guards  the  Celestial  Emj)ire  will 
not  very  easily  believe  that  the  Chinese  can  have  any 
idea  in  common  with  the  genuine  Mohammedans, 
who  are  also  themselves  Separatists.  The  inscription 
upon  the  facade  of  the  sepulchre  of  Timour,  to  which 


252  TEAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XI 

all  the  other  edifices  in  Samarcand  have  more  or  less 
resemblance  in  point  of  style  and  decoration,  shows 
clearly  enough  that  the  artists  were  Persians,  and 
one  needs  only  to  compare  the  monuments  of  this 
city  with  those  of  Herat,  Meshed,  and  Ispahan,  to  be 
convinced  that  the  architecture  is  Persian. 

So  much  of  the  ancient  and  historical  city  of  Sa- 
marcand. The  new  city,  whose  actual  walls  are  at 
the  distance  of  a  full  league  from  the  ruins  of  the 
old  walls,*  has  six  gates  and  a  few  bazars  that  have 
still  survived  from  the  ancient  times ;  in  these  are 
offered,  at  low  prices,  manufactures  in  leather  of  high 
repute,  and  wooden  saddles,  the  enamel  of  which 
might  even  do  honor  to  European  artisans.  During 
my  stay  in  the  city  of  Timour  the  bazars  and  other 
public  places  and  streets  were  continually  thronged, 
because  every  spot  was  occupied  by  the  troops  re- 
turning from  their  campaign ;  still  the  regular  resi- 
dents can  hardly  exceed  from  15,000  to  20,000,  of 
whom  two  thirds  are  Ozbegs,  and  one  third  Tadjiks. 
The  emir,  whose  usual  residence  is  Bokhara,  is  in  the 
habit  of  passing  two  or  three  of  the  summer  months 
in  Samarcand,  because  the  situation  is  more  elevated, 
and  the  city  has  certain  advantages  of  climate.  In 
Bokhara  the  heat  is  insupportable,  but  I  found  the 
temperature  here  very  agreeable;  only  the  water  rec- 

*  It  is  possible  that  the  ruins  only  mark  the  boundary  of  a 
suburb,  for  R.  G.  de  Clavijo,  who  in  1403  formed  part  of  an  em- 
bassy at  the  court  of  Timour,  informs  us  (see  the  translation  of 
that  account  by  C.  R.  Markham,  page  172)  that  the  citadel  lies 
at  one  end  of  the  town,  where,  in  fact,  it  still  is.  The  space  be- 
tween the  ruins  and  the  modern  wall  may  have  been  inhabited, 
and  yet  not  have  belonged  to  the  city. 


Chap.  XI.  DEHBID.— SAMARCAND.  253 

ommended  as  abi-hayat  (ambrosia)  tasted  to  me  very 
detestable. 

I  may  mention  Dehbid  (the  ten  willows)  as  singu- 
larly beautiful ;  it  forms  at  once  a  place  of  j^ilgrim- 
age  and  of  recreation,  a  league  distant  from  Sainar- 
cand,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Zerefshan,  and  peopled 
by  the  descendants  of  Mahkdum  Aazam,  who  died 
in  949  (1542),  and  is  here  interred.  The  inhabitants 
have  a  fine  khanka  (convent),  and  receive  j^ilgi'inis 
with  the  greatest  hospitality.  Dehbid  lies  actually 
higher  than  Samarcand  ;  still,  to  my  surprise,  I  met 
here  with  mulberries  in  the  middle  of  the  month  of 
August.  I  found  it  cool  even  at  midday  in  the  great 
"alley,"  which  was  planted  in  1632,  by  order  of  Nezr 
Divabeghi,  in  honor  of  the  saint  above  mentioned. 
On  the  road  to  Dehbid  I  Avas  shown  the  spot  where 
stood  the  famous  baghi-chinaran  (poplar  garden), 
Kuins  only  now  mark  the  site  of  the  palace;  of  the 
trees  nothing  is  visible. 

Although  we  can  not  go  so  far  as  the  inhabitant 
of  Central  Asia — who  applies  to  these  ruins,  even  at 
the  present  day,  the  expression, 

"  Samarcand  resembles  Paradise"* — 
we  must  still  be  just,  and  characterize  the  ancient 
capital  of  Central  Asia,  from  its  site  and  the  luxu- 
riant vegetation  in  the  midst  of  which  it  stands,  as 
the  most  beautiful  in  Turkestan.  Khokand  and 
Namengan,  according  to  native  appreciation,  rank 
still  higher,  but  a  stranger  may  be  pardoned  if  he 
withholds  the  palm,  so  long  as  it  has  been  denied  to 
him  with  his  own  eyes  to  see  the  superiority. 
*  "  Samarkand  firdousi  manend." 


254  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XL 

After  having  remained  eight  days  in  Samarcand,  I 
formed,  at  last,  my  final  resolution,  and  determined 
to  return  to  the  West  by  the  route  before  mentioned. 
Hadji  Bilal  was  desirous  of  taking  me  with  him  to 
Aksu,  and  promised  to  try  to  get  me  forward  to  Mec- 
ca either  by  way  of  Yerkend,  Thibet,  and  Cashmere, 
or,  if  fortune  were  favorable,  by  way  of  Komul  to 
Bidjing  (Pekin) ;  but  Hadji  Salih  did  not  approve 
of  the  plan,  both  on  account  of  the  great  distance  to 
be  traversed,  and  the  small  capital  at  my  disposal. 
"You  might,  indeed,  pass  as  far  as  Aksu,  perhaps 
even  as  Komul,  for  so  far  you  would  meet  Avith  Mus- 
sulmans and  brethren,  all  disposed  to  show  you  great 
honor  as  a  dervish  from  Roum,  but  from  that  point 
onward  you  would  find  black  unbelievers  every  where, 
who,  although  they  might  throw  no  obstacle  in  your 
way,  would  give  you  nothing.  By  the  way  of  Thibet 
you  may  find  fellow-travelers  going  from.  Kashgar 
and  Yerkend,  but  I  can  not  charge  myself  with  the 
responsibility  of  taking  you  with  me  at  this  time  to 
Khokand,  where  every  thing,  owing  to  the  recent 
war,  is  in  the  greatest  disorder.  But  Khokand  you 
must  see ;  come,  then,  when  things  are  tranquil :  for 
the  present  it  is  better  to  return  by  Herat  to  Tehe- 
ran, with  the  friends  whom  we  have  found  for  you." 

Although  these  words  of  my  excellent  friend  were 
sensible  enouo;h,  still  I  had  for  hours  a  lono;  struggle 
with  myself.  A  journey,  I  thought,  by  land  to  Pe- 
kin, across  the  ancient  homes  of  the  Tartars,  Kirghis, 
Kalmuks,  Mongols,  and  Chinese — a  way  by  which 
Marco  Polo  himself  would  not  have  ventured — is 
really  grand  !     But  moderation  whispered  in  my  ear. 


Chap.  XI.  CAUTION.— RETURN  OF  THE  EMIR.  255 

"  Enough  for  the  moment !"  I  made  a  retrospect  of 
what  I  had  done,  of  what  countries  I  had  traversed, 
what  distances  I  had  traveled  over,  and  by  ways,  too, 
by  which  no  one  had  preceded  me ;  would  it  not,  I 
thought,  be  a  pity  if  I  sacrificed  the  experience  which 
I  had  acquired,  however  trifling,  in  a  hazardous  and 
uncertain  enterprise  ?  I  am  but  thirtj^-one  years  old ; 
what  has  not  happened  may  still  occur ;  better,  per- 
haps, now,  that  I  should  return.  Hadji  Bilal  jested 
with  me  upon  my  cowardice,  and  the  European  read- 
er may  agree  with  him ;  but  local  experience  has 
taught  me  that,  at  least  here,  one  need  not  scorn  the 
Turkish  proverb,  that  says, 

"  To-day's  egg  is  better  than  to-morrow's  fowl." 

I  was  in  the  midst  of  the  preparations  for  my  de- 
parture when  the  emir  made  his  triumphal  entry, 
which,  as  it  had  been  announced  three  days  previous- 
ly, great  crowds  assembled  in  the  righistan  to  wit- 
ness. No  particular  pomp,  however,  distinguished  it. 
The  procession  was  opened  by  about  200  Serbaz,  who 
had  thrown  leather  accoutrements  over  their  clumsy 
Bokhariot  dress,  and  that  Avas  supposed  to  entitle 
them  to  the  name  of  regular  troops.  Far  in  the  rear 
there  followed  troops  in  ranks  with  standards  and 
kettle-drums.  The  Emir  Mozaffar-ed-din,  and  all  his 
escort  of  higher  functionaries,  looked,  Avith  their 
snow-white  turbans  and  their  wide  silk  garments  of 
all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow,  more  like  the  chorus 
of  women  in  the  opera  of  Nebuchadnezzar  than  a 
troop  of  Tartar  warriors.  So  also  it  may  be  said 
with  respect  to  other  officers  of  the  court,  of  whom 


Chap.  XI.  INTERVIEW  WITH  THE  EMIR.  257 

some  bore  white  staves  and  others  halberds,  that 
there  was  in  the  whole  procession  nothing  to  remind 
one  of  Turkestan  except  in  the  followers,  of  whom 
many  were  Kiptchaks,  and  attracted  attention  by 
their  most  original  Mongol  features,  and  by  the  arms 
which  they  bore,  consisting  of  bows,  arrows,  and 
shields. 

The  day  of  his  entry  the  emir  made,  by  public  no- 
tice, a  national  holiday.  Several  of  their  kettles  of 
monstrous  size  Avere  put  in  requisition,  and  brought 
forward  in  the  righistan,  for  boiling  the  "princely 
pilow,"  which  consisted  of  the  following  ingredients 
in  each  kettle :  a  sack  of  rice,  three  sheep  chopped 
to  pieces,  a  large  pan  of  sheep's,  fat  (enough  to  make, 
with  us,  five  pounds  of  candles),  a  small  sack  of  car- 
rots :  all  these  were  allowed  to  boil,  or  perhaps  we 
had  better  call  it  ferment,  together,  and,  as  tea  was 
also  served  out  at  discretion,  the  eating  and  drinking 
proceeded  bravely. 

The  day  following  it  was  announced  that  an  arz 
(public  audience)  would  take  place.  I  took  advan- 
tage of  the  opportunity  to  present  myself  to  the  emir 
under  the  conduct  of  my  friends,  but,  to  my  surprise, 
on  entering,  our  party  was  stopped  by  a  mehrem,  who 
informed  us  that  his  majesty  Avished  to  see  me  apart 
from  my  companions.  This  was  a  blow,  for  Ave  all 
now  suspected  that  something  was  going  Avrong.  I 
fblloAA^ed  the  mehrem,  and,  after  being  kept  an  hour 
AA^aiting,  Avas  introduced  into  a  room  Avhich  I  had  on 
a  previous  occasion  A'isited,  and  there  I  noAv  saAv  the 
emir  sittinj]^  on  a  mattress  or  ottoman  of  red  cloth, 
surrounded  by  AA^itings  and  books.     AVith  great  pres- 


258  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XI. 

ence  of  mind,  I  recited  a  short  sura,  with  the  usual 
prayer  for  the  welfare  of  the  sovereign,  and  after  the 
Amen,  to  which  he  himself  responded,  I  took  my 
seat,  without  permission,  quite  close  to  his  royal  per- 
son. The  boldness  of  my  proceeding — quite,  how- 
ever, in  accordance  with  the  character  which  I  as- 
sumed— seemed  not  displeasing  to  him.  I  had  long 
forgotten  the  art  of  blushing,  and  so  was  able  to  sus- 
tain the  look  which  he  now  directed  full  in  my  face, 
with  the  intention,  probably,  of  disconcerting  me. 
"Hadji,  thou  comest,  I  hear,  from  Bourn,  to  visit  the 
tombs  of  Baha-ed-din  and  the  saints  of  Turkestan  V 

"Yes,  takhsir  (sire"'') ;  but  also  to  quicken  myself 
by  the  contemplation  of  thy  sacred  beauty"  (djemali 
mubarek),  according  to  the  forms  of  conversation  usu- 
al on  these  occasions. 

"Strange!  and  thou  hadst,  then,  no  other  motive 
in  coming  hither  from  so  distant  a  land  ?" 

"  No,  takhsir  (sire) ;  it  had  ahvays  been  my  warm- 
est desire  to  behold  the  noble  Bokhara  and  the  en- 
chanting Samarcand,  upon  whose  sacred  soil,  as  was 
remarked  by  Sheikh  Djelal,  one  should  rather  walk 
on  one's  head  than  on  one's  feet.  But  I  have,  be- 
sides, no  other  business  in  life,  and  have  long  been 
moving  about  every  where  as  a  djihangeshte"  (world 
pilgrim). 

"What,  thou,  with  thy  lame  foot,  a  djihangeshte! 
That  is  really  astonishing." 

"I  would  be  thy  victim"  (an  expression  equiva- 
lent to  "pardon  me").     "  Sire,  thy  glorious  ancestor 

*  Takhsir  signifies  sir,  and  is  employed  not  only  in  conversing 
with  princes,  but  all  other  personages. 


Chap.  XI.  A  PRINCELY  PRESENT.  959 

(peace  be  with  him!)  had  certainly  the  same  infirm- 
ity, and  he  was  even  djihanghir''  (conqueror  of  the 
world).  * 

This  reply  was  agreeable  to  the  emir,  who  now  put 
questions  to  me  respecting  my  journey,  and  the  im- 
pression made  upon  me  by  Bokhara  and  Samarcand. 
My  observations,  which  I  incessantly  strove  to  orna- 
ment with  Persian  sentences  and  verses  from  the  Ko- 
ran, produced  a  good  effect  upon  him,  for  he  is  him- 
self a  mollah,  and  tolerably  well  acquainted  Avith  Ara- 
bic. He  directed  that  I  should  be  presented  with  a 
serpay  (dress)f  and  thirty  tenghe,  and  dismissed  me 
with  the  command  that  I  should  visit  him  a  second 
time  in  Bokhara. 

"When  I  had  received  the  jDrincely  present,  I  hur- 
ried, like  a  man  possessed  by  a  devil,  back  to  my 
friends,  who  were  delighted  at  my  good  fortune.  I 
heard  (and  there  is  no  imj^robability  in  the  account) 
that  Rahniet  Bi  had  drawn  up  his  report  concerning 
me  in  ambiguous  terms,  and  that  the  emir  had  con- 
sequently conceived  susiDicions.  My  triumph  was 
entirely  owing  to  the  flexibility  of  my  tongue  (which 
is  really  impudent  enough).  In  fact,  I  had  every 
reason  on  this  occasion  to  appreciate  the  truth  of 
the  Latin  proverb,  "Quot  linguas  cales  tot  homines 
vales.'' 

After  this  scene,  I  was  advised  by  my  friends  to 

*  Timour,  whom  these  emirs  of  Bokhara  erroueoulsy  claim  as 
their  ancestor,  was,  it  is  well  kno\^Ti,  lame ;  hence  his  enemies 
called  him  Timur  "Leuk"  (Tamerlane,  the  lame  Timour). 

f  This  word  means  ser  ta  pay  (from  head  to  foot) ;  it  is  a 
fomplete  dress,  consisting  of  turban,  over-dress,  girdle,  and 
boots. 


260  TRAVELS  IX  CENTKAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XI. 

quit  Samarcand  in  all  speed,  not  to  make  any  stay 
even  in  Karslii,  l^ut  to  gain  as  rapidly  as  possible  the 
farther  bank  of  the  Oxus,  where,  among  the  hospita- 
ble Ersari  Turkomans,  I  might  await  the  arrival  of 
the  caravan  for  Herat. 

The  hour  of  departure  was  at  hand.  My  pen  is 
too  feeble  to  convey  any  adequate  idea  of  the  dis- 
tressing scene  that  took  place  between  us ;  on  both 
sides  we  were  really  equally  moved.  For  six  long 
months  we  had  shared  the  great  dangers  of  deserts, 
of  robbers,  and  inclement  weather.  What  wonder 
if  all  difference  of  position,  age,  and  nationality  had 
been  lost  sight  of,  and  if  we  regarded  each  other  as 
all  members  of  a  single  family  ?  Separation  was,  in 
our  case,  equivalent  to  death.  How  could  it  be  oth- 
erwise in  these  countries,  where  there  was  positively 
not  even  a  hope  of  seeing  each  other  again?  My 
heart  seemed  as  if  it  would  burst  when  I  thought 
that  I  was  not  permitted  to  communicate  the  secret 
of  my  disguise  to  these,  my  best  friends  in  the  world 
— that  I  must  deceive  those  to  whom  I  owed  even 
my  life.  I  tried  to  imagine  a  way — I  wished  to  make 
trial  of  them ;  but  religious  fanaticism,  to  be  found 
sometimes  even  in  civilized  Europe,  has  a  fearful  in- 
fluence upon  the  Oriental,  and  particularly  so  upon 
the  Islamite. 

My  confession,  in  itself  a  capital  offense'"'  by  the 
law  of  Mohammed,  might  not  perhaps,  for  the  mo- 
ment, have  severed  all  ties  of  friendship ;  but  how 
bitterly,  how  dreadfully  would  my  friend  Hadji  Salih, 
who  was  so  sincere  in  his  religious  opinions,  have  felt 

*  A  nnirtad  (renegade)  is  directed  to  be  stoned  to  death. 


Chap  XI.  SEPAEATION  FROM  HADJIS.  261 

the  deception!  No,  I  determined  to  spare  him  thi> 
sorrow,  and  to  save  myself  from  any  reproach  of  in- 
""ratitude.  He  must,  I  thought,  be  left  in  the  fond 
delusion. 

After  having  commended  me  to  some  pilgrims, 
whom  I  was  to  accompany  to  Mecca,  as  their  very 
brother — son,  in  fact — as  one  whom  they  most  val- 
ued, they  accompanied  me  after  sunset  to  the  outside 
of  the  city  gate,  where  the  cart  that  my  new  compan- 
ions had  hired  for  the  journey  to  Karshi  was  waiting 
for  us.  I  wept  like  a  child  when,  tearing  myself  from 
their  embraces,  I  took  my  seat  in  the  vehicle.  My 
friends  were  all  bathed  in  tears,  and  long  did  I  see 
them — and  I  see  them  now — standing  there  in  the 
same  place,  with  their  hands  raised  to  heaven,  im- 
ploring Allah's  blessing  upon  my  far  journey.  I 
turned  round  many  times  to  look  back.  At  last 
they  disappeared,  and  I  found  I  was  only  gazing 
upon  the  domes  of  Samarcand,  illuminated  b}'  the 
faint  light  of  the  rising  moon  ! 


262  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XII. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


SAMARCAXD  TO  KAKSHI  THROUGH  THE  DESEKT. — NOMADS. — KAE8HI,  THE  AN- 
CIENT NAKHSEB. —  TRADE  AND  MANUFACTURE. —  KERKI. — THE  OXUS. — THE 
AUTHOR    CHARGED  WITH   BEING   A   RUNAWAY    SLAVE. — ERSARI   TURKOMANS. 

MEZARI    SHERIF. BALKH. AUTHOR    JOINS    A   CARAVAN    FROM    BOKHARA. 

—  SLAVERY. ZEID. ANDKHUY. YEKETUT. KHAIRABAD. MAYMENE. 

AKKALE. 


'■^Non  succurrit  tibi  quamdiu  circum  Bactra  hcereas?" — Q.  Curtii  Rufi,  lib.  vii.,  8. 


My  new  traveling  companions  were  from  Oosh 
Mergolan  and  Namengan  (Khanat  of  Khokand).  It 
is  unnecessary  to  describe  them  particularly.  They 
were  far  from  being  to  me  like  those  friends  from 
whom  I  had  just  parted ;  nor  did  we  remain  long  to- 
gether. I  attached  myself,  in  preference,  to  a  young 
mollah  from  Kungrat,  who  had  traveled  with  us  to 
Samarcand,  and  hoped  to  proceed,  in  my  company,  as 
far  as  Mecca.  He  was  a  young  man,  good-humored, 
and  as  poor  as  myself,  who  looked  up  to  me  as  one 
superior  to  himself  in  learning,  and  was  disposed  to 
serve  me. 

From  Samarcand  to  Karshi  there  are  three  ways  : 
first,  by  Shehri  Sebz,  which  may  be  styled  almost  a 
circuitous  way,  and  is  the  longest ;  secondly,  by  Djam, 
only  fifteen  miles,  but  through  a  stony  and  mountain- 
ous country,  and  consequently  difiicult,  if  not  imprac- 
ticable, for  carts  ;   thirdly,  through  the  desert,  barel}' 


Chap.  XII.  SAMARCAND  TO  KARSHI.  263 

eighteen  miles  in  length.  On  setting  out,  we  had, 
anyhow,  to  take  the  Bokhara  road  as  far  as  the  hill 
whence  Samarcand  first  becomes  visible  to  the  trav- 
eler approaching  it  from  the  former  city.  Here  we 
turned  off  to  the  left.  The  way  then  passes  through 
two  villages,  in  the  midst  of  land  well  cultivated. 
After  proceeding  three  miles,  we  halted  at  the  cara- 
vanserai Kobati  Hauz,  where  the  road  divides  into 
two  others,  that  on  the  left  passing  by  Djam,  that  on 
the  right  traversing  a  desert.  We  took  the  latter. 
In  comparison  with  those  deserts  through  which  I 
had  already  made  my  way,  this  one,  with  respect  to 
size,  may  be  styled  a  moderate-sized  field.  It  is  ev- 
ery where  visited  by  shepherds,  from  the  convenience 
of  its  numerous  wells  of  tolerably  good  water ;  in  the 
neighborhood  of  these  the  Ozbegs  constantly  pitch 
their  tents.  The  wells  are,  for  the  most  part,  deep, 
and  have  each  near  them  a  somewhat  elevated  reser- 
voir of  stone  or  wood,  always  in  the  form  of  a  square, 
into  Avhich  is  thrown  the  water  drawn  from  the  wells, 
for  the  use  of  cattle.  As  the  buckets  are  small,  and 
the  shepherd  would  be  soon  tired  by  repeatedly  using 
them,  an  ass,  or  more  often  a  camel,  is  employed ;  the 
rope  is  attached  to  the  saddle,  and  the  animal  draws 
up  the  bucket  by  walking  a  distance  equal  to  the 
length  of  the  cord.  The  appearance  of  these  wells, 
of  the  drinking  sheep,  and  the  busy  shepherd,  has,  in 
the  stillness  of  those  evening  hours,  something  not 
unpoetic;  and  I  was  very  much  struck  by  the  re- 
semblance between  this  part  of  the  desert  and  our 
puszta  (heaths)  in  Hungary. 

In  consequence  of  the  strictness  with  which  the 


264  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XII. 

police  regulations  were  enforced  every  where  by  the 
Emir  of  Bokhara,  the  routes  here  are  so  safe  that  not 
merely  small  caravans,  but  even  singlet  ravelers,  trav- 
erse the  desert  unmolested.  On  the  second  day  we 
met  at  one  of  the  wells  a  caravan  coming  from  Kar- 
shi.  There  was  among  the  travelers  a  young  woman 
who  had  been  treacherously  sold  by  her  own  husband 
to  an  aged  Tadjik  for  thirty  tilla.  It  was  not  until 
she  reached  the  desert  that  she  became  fully  aware  ot 
the  cruel  trick  to  which  she  was  victim :  the  wretch- 
ed creature,  shrieking,  and  ^^'eeping,  and  tearing  her 
hair,  ran  up  to  me  like  one  distracted,  and  exclaimed, 
"Hadjim  (my  hadji),  thou  that  hast  read  books,  tell 
me  where  it  is  written  that  a  Mussulman  can  sell  his 
wife  who  has  borne  him  children !"  I  affirmed  it  to 
be  a  sin,  but  the  Tadjik  only  laughed  at  me,  for  he 
had,  probably,  already  an  understanding  with  the 
kazi  kelan  (superior  judge)  of  Karshi,  and  felt  sure 
of  his  purchase. 

As  we  advanced  but  slowly  on  account  of  the  great 
heat,  we  took  two  days  and  three  nights  to  reach 
Karshi.  We  first  came  in  sii^ht  of  it  on  reachino;  a 
plateau,  where  the  road  again  divides  into  two,  that 
on  the  right  hand  leading  to  Kette  Kurgan,  and  that 
on  the  left  conducting  to  the  river  that  flows  hither 
from  Shehri  Sebz,  and  disappears  in  the  sand  at  a 
considerable  distance  beyond  Karshi.  From  this 
point  the  whole  way  to  the  city,  which  is  distant 
two  miles,  passes  continually  through  cultivated  land 
and  numerous  gardens,  and  as  Karshi  has  no  walls, 
one  does  not  know  before  crossino;  the  bridire  that 
one  is  in  the  city. 


Ciivr.  XII.  KARSHI.— CUTLERY.  265 

Karshi,  the  ancient  Nakhslieb,  is,  both  from  its  size 
and  its  commercial  imj)ortance,  the  second  city  in  the 
Khanat  of  Bokhara ;  it  consists  of  the  city  (proper) 
and  the  citadel  (kurgantche),  which  latter  is  on  its 
nortliwestern  side,  and  weakly  fortified.  Karshi  has, 
at  present,  ten  caravanserais  and  a  well-supplied  ba- 
zar, and,  should  no  political  disturbances  occur  to  pre- 
vent, is  considered  likely  to  play  an  important  part  in 
the  transit  trade  organized  between  Bokliara,  Kaboul, 
and  India.  The  inliabitants,  estimated  at  25,000 
souls,  are  for  tlie  most  part  Ozbegs,  and  form  the  nu- 
cleus of  the  troops  of  the  khan.  The  population  con- 
sists, besides,  of  Tadjiks,  Indians,  Afghans,  and  Jews: 
the  latter  have  the  privilege  of  riding  even  in  the  in- 
terior of  the  city,  which  they  are  not  allowed  to  do 
in  any  other  part  of  the  khanat.  With  respect  to 
its  manufactures,  Karshi,  less  so,  however,  than  His- 
sar  (at  a  little  distance  from  it),  is  distinguished  by 
its  fabrication  of  knives  of  different  kinds.  These 
are  not  only  exported  to  all  parts  of  Central  Asia, 
but  are  conveyed  by  the  hadjis  to  Persia,  Arabia,  and 
Turkey,  where  they  realize  three  times,  and  often 
four  times  the  cost  price.  One  kind,  with  Damascus 
blades,  and  handles  with  gold  and  silver  inlaid,  is  re- 
ally worked  -wdth  great  taste,  and  might,  both  for  du- 
rability and  temper,  put  to  shame  the  most  famous 
produce  of  Sheffield  and  Birmingham. 

Among  the  letters  of  recommendation  with  which 
my  friends  had  furnished  me  to  different  khans  and 
mollahs  on  my  way,  one  Avas  addressed  to  a  certain 
Ishan  Hasan,  who  stood  in  high  repute  in  Karshi. 
When  I  visited  him  he  received  me  in  a  friendly 


266  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.XU. 

manner,  and  advised  me,  as  all  cattle,  and  particu- 
larly asses,  were  cheap,  to  purchase  one  of  these  long- 
eared  coursers ;  nor  did  he  omit  to  tell  me  also  to  do 
like  all  other  hadjis,  and  employ  what  little  money 
I  had  left  in  procuring  knives,  needles,  thread,  glass 
beads,  Bokhariot  sacking,  but,  most  of  all,  cornelians 
imported  from  Bedakhshan,  and  which  are  also  cheap 
there;  for  he  said  that,  as  we  were  going  among 
tribes  of  nomads,  we  should,  by  means  of  such  mer- 
chandise, be  able  to  gain  something,  and,  besides, 
maintain  ourselves  better,  for  that  for  a  single  needle 
or  a  few  glass  beads  (mondjuck)  one  might  often 
obtain  bread  and  melons  to  support  one  a  whole  day. 
I  saw  at  once  that  the  good  man  was  right,  and  pro- 
ceeded the  very  same  day,  in  company  with  the  mol- 
lah  from  Kungrat,  to  purchase  some  of  the  articles 
specified,  so  that,  while  one  side  of  my  khurdjin 
(knapsack)  was  filled  with  my  manuscripts,  the  oth- 
er was  occupied  by  a  stock  of  cutlery.  Thus  I  be- 
came simultaneously  antiquary,  haberdasher,  hadji, 
and  mollah,  besides  filling  the  accessorial  functions 
of  dispenser  of  blessings,  nefes,  amulets,  and  other 
wonders. 

Singular  contrast !  It  is  just  a  year  ago  that  I 
exercised  all  those  offices,  and  now  I  sit  in  the  En- 
glish metropolis  confined  within  four  walls,  writing 
fi'om  eight  to  ten  hours  a  day.  There  I  had  to  do 
with  nomads  picking  out  from  my  glass  beads  those 
of  lightest  color,  and  from  my  amulets  those  having 
the  broadest  red  edgings ;  here  I  have  to  do  with 
publishers,  and  stand  with  embarrassment  before  a 
critical  and  fastidious  public,  whose  various  and  dis- 


Chap.  XII.  GAEDEN.— START  FOR  KERKI.  267 

cordant  requisitions  are  certainly  more  difficult  to 
satisfy  than  the  fashionable  taste  of  a  young  Turko- 
man, or  of  a  young  brunette  daughter  of  the  Djeni- 
shidi! 

It  was  quite  a  surprise  for  me  to  see  in  Karshi  a 
public  place  of  recreation  not  to  be  found  upon  the 
same  scale  either  in  Bokhara  or  Samarcand,  or  even 
in  Persia  itself  It  is  a  large  garden  bearing  the 
modest  title  kalenterkhane  (beggar's  house),  extend- 
ing along  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  containing  sev- 
eral walks  and  beds  of  flowers.  Here  the  beau  monde 
of  Karshi  are  in  motion  from  two  o'clock  in  the  af- 
ternoon until  an  hour  after  sunset.  In  different 
places  the  steaming  samovars  (giant  Russian  tea-ket- 
tles) are  in  requisition,  surrounded  constantly  by  cir- 
cles of  customers  two  or  three  deep  ;  the  sight  of  the 
gay  crowd  is,  for  the  traveler  in  Central  Asia,  really 
something  uncommon.  The  inhabitants  of  Karshi 
are  in  other  respects  distinguished  by  their  cheerful- 
ness and  light-heartedness ;  they  are,  in  fact,  regard- 
ed as  the  shirazi  of  the  Khanat  of  Bokhara. 

After  a  sojourn  of  three  days  we  started  for  Kerki, 
distant  only  fourteen  miles :  there  is  but  one  road. 
Our  party  now  only  consisted,  in  addition  to  myself, 
of  Mollah  Ishak  (such  Avas  the  name  of  the  mollah 
from  Kungrat),  and  two  other  hadjis.  At  the  dis- 
tance of  two  miles  from  Karshi  we  passed  through  a 
large,  and,  as  I  understood,  a  rich  village,  named  Feiz- 
abad,  and  spent  half  the  night  in  the  ruins  of  a  cis- 
tern :  there  are  many  in  these  parts,  all  dating  from 
the  time  of  Abdullah  Khan.  Although  security- 
reigned  every  where,  we  were  advised  that  we  ought 


268  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIL 

to  be  upon  our  guard  when  we  were  farther  from 
Karrihi,  as  there  were  already  Turkomans  about  not 
to  be  depended  upon.  Posting  our  asses  in  a  corner 
of  the  ruins,  we  laid  ourselves  down  in  the  front  part 
of  it  upon  our  knapsacks,  and  so  slept  alternately, 
until  toward  midnight.  We  then  started  again,  in 
order  to  reach  our  intended  station  before  noon.  We 
arrived  long  before  that  period  at  the  cistern  Seng- 
sulak.  On  seeing  it  at  a  distance  surrounded  by 
tents  and  feeding  flocks,  Ave  rejoiced,  for  we  felt  now 
certain  to  find  water,  which  we  had  before  doubted, 
and  therefore  had  loaded  our  asses  with  that  neces- 
sary article.  The  high  dome-like  arch  of  the  cistern, 
although  more  than  200  years  old,  is  quite  unin- 
jured, as  also  are  some  recesses  in  it  that  afford 
shade  to  travelers.  The  cistern,  situated  in  the  low- 
er part  of  a  valley,  is  completely  filled,  not  only  by 
the  melting  of  the  snows  in  the  spring,  but  by  rains. 
We  found  it  then  only  three  feet  deep,  and  surround- 
ed by  200  tents  of  the  Ozbegs,  from  the  tribes  of 
Kungrat  and  Nayman ;  their  cattle,  and  their  chil- 
dren in  a  complete  state  of  nuditj^,  were  splashing 
about  in  it,  and  spoiling  its  flavor  a  little.  As  from 
here  to  Kerki  is  reckoned  six  miles,  we  wished,  for 
the  sake  of  our  beasts,  to  make  this  tolerably  long 
station  a  night  journey,  and  to  employ  the  day  in 
sleeping.  Our  repose  was  soon  disturbed,  for  the 
nomad  girls  had  got  scent  of  our  glass  beads.  They 
hurried  to  us  with  huge  wooden  plates  of  camel's 
milk  and  mare's  milk,  to  entice  us  to  exchange. 

An  hour  after  sunset  we  started  ;   it  was  a  clear 
fine  night.     We  had  hardly  got  four  leagues  on  our 


CuAP.  XII.  SEIZED  AS  A  RUNAWAY  SLAVE.  269 

journey,  when  we  all,  simultaneously  overpowered  by 
sleep,  sank  down  and  slumbered  with  the  reins  of 
rope  still  in  our  hands.  We  were  soon,  however, 
awakened  by  horsemen,  who  reproached  us  with  our 
imprudence,  and  incited  us  to  continue  our  march. 
We  sprang  up,  and,  partly  proceeding  on  foot  and 
partly  riding,  reached  at  sunrise  the  Oxus.  On  the 
nearer  bank  stands  the  little  citadel ;  on  the  farther 
one,  upon  a  steep  hill,  the  frontier  fortress  round 
which  lies  spread  the  city  Kerki. 

The  Oxus,  which  flows  between  the  two  fortresses 
just  mentioned,  is  nearly  twice  as  broad  as  the  Dan- 
ube where  it  runs  between  Pesth  and  Ofen.  The 
current  is  very  strong,  with  banks  of  sand  here  and 
there.  Our  passage  over,  as  unluckily  we  were  car- 
ried a  little  too  far  down  the  stream,  lasted  three 
hours.  When  thino;s  are  most  favorable  for  crossing 
— that  is,  during  the  summer  months — the  passage 
over  where  the  river  is  deepest  requires  full  half  an 
hour,  for  it  is  unheard  of,  nay,  impossible,  for  a  ferry- 
boat to  cross  without  the  boatman  being  obliged  to 
step  into  the  water  and  drag  it  by  the  rope  over 
some  shallow  part.  Happily,  the  heat  was  not  as 
great  as  when  I  had  before  crossed,  at  Khanka ;  we 
did  not,  therefore,  suffer  much.  The  boatmen  were 
humane  and  civil  enough  not  to  require  from  us  any 
fare.  Scarcely  had  we  reached  the  opposite  bank 
when  we  were  stopped  by  the  deryabeghi  (intendant 
of  the  ferry)  of  the  Governor  of  Kerki,  who  accused 
us  of  being  runaway  slaves  making  for  Persia,  our 
heretical  fatherland.  ITc  forced  us,  bag  and  baggage, 
into  the  fortress,  there  to  be  heard  by  the  governor 


270  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XII. 

in  person.  Imagine  my  astonishment.  My  three 
colleagues,  whose  physiognomy,  pronunciation,  and 
language  at  once  attested  their  origin,  were  not  at  all 
alarmed,  and  were,  in  fact,  soon  set  free.  With  me 
they  made  a  little  difficulty,  but,  as  I  saw  that  they 
were  about  forcibly  to  take  away  my  ass,  I  fell  into 
a  passion,  and,  employing  alternately  the  dialects  of 
Tartary  and  the  Turkish  dialect  peculiar  to  Constan- 
tinople, I  handed  in  my  passport,  demanding  in  a 
violent  manner  that  they  should  show  it  to  the  bi 
(governor),  or  that  they  should  usher  me  to  his  pres- 
ence. 

On  making  this  disturbance,  I  saw  that  the  top- 
tchubashi  (commandant  of  artillery)  in  the  fortress, 
a  Persian  by  birth,  who  had  elevated  himself  from 
the  condition  of  a  slave  to  his  present  rank,  whisper- 
ed something  in  the  ear  of  the  deryabeghi ;  he  then 
took  me  aside,  and  told  me  that  he  had  been  several 
times  in  Stamboul  from  Tebriz,  his  native  city ;  that 
he  could  distinguish  people  from  Roum  very  well ;  I 
might  be  easy  ;  nothing  would  happen  here  either  to 
me  or  my  property ;  that  all  strangers  were  obliged 
to  submit  to  the  examination,  because  every  emanci- 
pated slave  on  his  way  home  was  obliged  to  pay  here, 
on  the  frontier,  a  tax  of  two  ducats,  and  that  often, 
to  smuggle  themselves  through,  they  assumed  differ- 
ent disguises.  Soon  afterward  the  servant  returned 
who  had  shown  my  pass  to  the  governor ;  he  gave  it 
me  back,  with  five  tenghe  presented  to  me  by  the  bi, 
without  any  request  on  my  part. 

As  Kerki  is  a  frontier  fortress,  and  is,  so  to  say, 
the  key  of  Bokliara  on  the  side  of  Herat,  let  us  de- 


Chap.  XII.  KERKI.  271 

scribe  it  more  in  detail.  As  I  before  said,  the  forti- 
fications are  divided  into  t^\  o  parts.  The  citadel  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  river  is  very  small,  and  is  de- 
fended by  only  four  cannon,  and  guarded  in  time  of 
peace  by  a  few  soldiers.  The  fortress  itselfj  on  the 
left  bank,  consists  first  of  the  castle  built  upon  the 
hill,  encircled  by  three  walls,  and  having,  as  I  heard, 
twelve  cannon  of  iron  and  six  of  brass ;  the  walls 
are  of  earth  and  tolerably  strong,  five  feet  broad  and 
twelve  feet  high.  The  town,  which  is  spread  round 
the  fortress,  consists  of  150  houses,  three  mosques,  a 
small  bazar,  and  caravanserai :  it  is  also  defended  by 
a  good  wall  and  deep  ditch.  The  inhabitants  are 
Ozbegs  and  Turkomans,  employed  a  little  in  trade, 
but  more  in  agriculture.  Near  the  walls  of  the  city 
is  the  tomb  of  the  famous  Imam  Kerkhi,  the  author 
of  many  commentaries.  The  province  of  Kerki  ex- 
tends from  the  vicinity  of  Chardjuy  to  the  ford  Hadji 
Salih  (falsely  called  Hojasalu),  on  the  bank  of  the 
Oxus,  so  far  as  the  canals  of  the  said  river  run.  This 
country  is  inhabited  by  the  Ersari  Turkomans,  who 
pay  tribute  to  the  emir  only  to  secure  themselves 
from  hostilities  on  the  part  of  the  other  tribes.  In 
earlier  and  different  times  the  sovereign  of  Bokhara 
had  other  possessions  on  the  farther  side  of  the  Oxus, 
but  he  was  deprived  of  them  by  the  victorious  Dost 
Mohammed  Khan,  and  now  has  nothing  remaining 
there  except  Chardjuy  and  Kerki. 

I  heard,  to  my  great  regret,  that  Mollah  Zeman, 
the  chief  of  the  caravan  proceeding  from  Bokhara 
to  Herat,  would  not  arrive  for  eight  or  ten  days.  I 
therefore  considered  it  advisable  to  jDass  the  interval 


272  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XII. 

rather  in  journeys  among  the  Turkomans  than  in 
Kerki.  I  went  with  Mollah  Ishak  to  the  tribes  Kizil 
Ayak  and  Hasan-Menekli,  among  whom  there  were 
mollahs  who  had  seen  me  at  Bokhara  with  some  of 
my  friends.  The  Ersari  Turkomans,  who  only  mi- 
grated hither  from  Manghishlak  200  years  ago,  and 
have  not  recognized  the  supremacy  of  Bokhara  except 
during  the  last  forty  years,  have  retained  very  little 
of  the  national  characteristics  of  the  Turkomans. 
They  may  be  styled  only  semi-nomads,  the  greater 
part  cultivating  the  land,  and  the  remainder,  still  ex- 
clusively pastoral,  having  lost  with  their  savage  char- 
acter all  the  primitive  virtues  of  their  kindred  tribe. 
The  exertions  of  Bokhara  in  favor  of  civilization 
have  stripped  them  at  once  of  their  sword  and  their 
integrity,  giving  them  in  exchange  the  Koran  and 
hypocrisy.  Never  shall  I  forget  the  scenes  that  I 
witnessed  as  a  guest  in  the  house  of  one  of  the  most 
considerable  ishans  of  these  Turkomans.  Khalfa 
Niyaz  had  inherited  from  his  father  sanctity,  knowl- 
edge, and  rank.  He  had  a  tekkie  (monastery),  where 
a  limited  number  of  students  were  instructed  a  la 
Bokhara.  He  had,  besides,  obtained  an  izn  (permis- 
sion) from  Mecca  to  recite  the  sacred  poems  (Kaside 
Sherif) :  in  doing  so  he  used  to  place  before  him  a 
cup  with  water,  into  which  he  spat  at  the  end  of  each 
poem  ;  and  this  composition,  into  which  the  sanctity 
of  the  text  had  penetrated,  was  sold  to  the  best  bid- 
der as  a  wonder-workino;-  medicine ! 

There  is  only  one  quality  of  the  Turkomans  that 
they  have  retained  uncorrupted — hospitality,  which 
is  displayed  to  all  strangers,  whether  they  abide  a 


Chap.  Xn.  TOMB  OF  ALL— ANCIENT  BAI.KH.  273 

day  or  a  year ;  for  throughout  all  Turkestan,  if  we 

except  the  Tadjiks,  the  proverb  is  unknown : 

HOte  et  poisson, 

En  trois  jours  poison. 

I  made  an  excursion  also  with  my  host  to  the 
Mezari  sherif  ("the  noble  grave'').  It  is  two  days' 
journey  from  his  ova,  and  four  or  five  from  Kerki, 
and  not  very  far  from  Balkh.  As  Mezari  sherif  is 
said  to  be  the  tomb  of  Ali,  it  is  throughout  the  whole 
of  Turkestan  an  important  place  of  pilgrimage.  His- 
tory tells  that  the  miraculous  grave  at  Shahi  Merdan 
Ali  ("king  of  the  heroes,"  as  Mezar  is  also  otherwise 
called)  was  discovered  in  the  time  of  the  Sultan 
Sandjar.  Balkh  being  covered  every  where  with 
ruins,  it  was  supposed  to  have  guarded  its  treasures 
ever  since  the  time  of  the  divs  (devils) :  the  last- 
named  sultan,  therefore,  caused  excavations  to  be 
made,  and  on  one  of  these  occasions  a  stone  table 
of  the  purest  white  was  found,  with  the  inscription, 
"This  is  the  tomb  of  Ali,  the  son  of  Abutalib,  the 
mighty  hero  and  companion  of  the  Prophet.'* 

This  circumstance  is  only  so  far  interesting  that 
it  enabled  us  to  establish  that  the  ruins  of  ancient 
Balkh,  styled  by  the  Orientals  "the  mother  of  cities," 
covered  formerly  a  distance  of  five  leagues.  Now 
only  a  few  heaps  of  earth  are  pointed  to  as  the  site 
of  the  ancient  Bactra,  and  of  the  modern  ruins  there 
is  nothing  remarkable  but  a  half-demolished  mosque, 
built  by  the  Sultan  Sandjar,  of  the  race  of  the  Seld- 
joukides ;  for  in  the  Middle  Ages  Balkh  was  the 
capital  of  Islamite  civilization,  and  was  styled  Kub- 
bet-til  Islam  ("the  dome  of  Islam").     It  is  singular 

S 


274  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chat.  XU. 

that  the  bricks  here  are  of  the  same  size  and  quality 
as  those  in  the  ruins  among  the  Yomuts  ;  but  I  have 
been  able  to  find  ^mong  them  no  cuneiform  inscrip- 
tions. Excavations  would  incontestably  produce  in- 
teresting results ;  but  they  would  be  impossible  with- 
out recommendatory  letters,  backed  by  two  or  three 
thousand  European  bayonets. 

Modern  Balkh,  regarded  as  the  capital  of  the  Af- 
ghan province  of  Turkestan,  and  occupied  by  the 
serdar  with  his  garrison,  is  only  a  winter  residence, 
for  in  spring  even  the  poorest  inhabitant  leaves  it  for 
Mezar,  whose  situation  is  more  elevated,  its  tempera- 
ture less  oppressive,  and  its  air  less  impure  than  those 
of  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  Bactra ;  for  while  the  lat- 
ter is  famous  for  poisonous  scorpions,  the  former  has 
a  high  reputation  as  producing  the  wonder-working 
red  roses  (giil-i-surkh).  These  flowers  grow  upon 
the  pretended  tomb  of  Ali,*  and  have  positively  the 
sweetest  smell  and  the  finest  color  of  any  I  ever  saw. 
Superstition  fondly  credits  the  story  that  they  will 
not  succeed  in  any  other  soil  than  that  of  Mezar. 
Every  attempt,  at  least,  to  transplant  it  in  Mezar  it- 
self has  failed. 

After  a  wearisome  delay,  we  at  last  received  intel- 
ligence of  the  arrival  of  the  Herat  caravan.  I  hur- 
ried to  Kerki,  and  thought  that  I  might  proceed  on 
my  journey,  when  our  departure  was  again  postponed, 
owing  to  a  dispute  about  the  tax  imposed  upon  eman- 
cipated slaves.  MoUah  Zeman  had  in  his  caravan 
about  forty  of  these,  partly  from  Herat,  partly  from 
Persia,  who  journeyed  homeward  under  his  protec- 
*  The  real  monument  of  AH  is  in  Nedjef. 


Chap.  XII.  WEANGLING  ABOUT  THE  TAX.  £76 

tion,  which  the  poor  men  were  obliged  to  purchase 
at  a  high  rate,  for  otherwise  they  incurred  the  risk  of 
being  caught  up  and  sold  a  second  time.     Althouo-h 
Zeman  was  well  known  to  all  the  officers  on  the 
frontiers,  he  nevertheless  had  quarrels  with  them  ev- 
ery time  he  passed,  not  so  much  on  account  of  the 
tax  itself,  which  is  here  fixed,  but  of  the  number  of 
the  slaves  liable  to  it,  which  he  always  endeavored 
to  diminish  and  the  authorities  to  increase.     Every 
traveler  not  well  known  is  presumed  to  be  a  slave, 
and  is  seized  as  such ;  and  as  every  one  seeks  to  en- 
force his  own  view  of  liability  or  exemption,  there 
is  no  end  to  the  shouting,  quarreling,  and  tumult. 
Finally,  however,  every  thing  is  left  to  the  decision 
of  the  kervanbashi,  who,  from  his  caravan  of  from  50 
to  100  travelers,  names  such  as  emancipated  slaves 
whose  type,  language,  and  other  indications  are  un- 
mistakable.     Generally  speaking,  suspicion  princi- 
pally attaches  to  vagabonds  and  other  travelers  who 
journey  with  no  apparent  object  in  view;   and  as 
these,  for  the  most  part,  assume  the  title  of  hadjis,  it 
is  the  policy  of  the  Zeman  to  get  together  in  Bokha- 
ra as  many  genuine  hadjis  as  possible,  in  whose  ranks 
he  then  places  his  ex-slaves,  the  false  hadjis. 

They  took  a  whole  day  to  get  through  the  bales 
of  goods,  the  men,  horses,  camels,  and  asses.  At  last 
they  started,  escorted  by  a  custom-house  officer,  who 
kept  strict  watch  to  prevent  any  other  travelers  join- 
ing the  caravan  by  circuitous  routes.  When  we  had 
got  beyond  the  inhabited  district — which  is,  in  fact, 
the  frontier  of  Bokhara  —  he  turned  back,  and  we 
proceeded  on  our  way  into  the  desert.  We  were  in 
two  days  to  reach  the  Khanat  of  Andkhuy. 


276  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XII. 

While  my  heavily-laden  ass  was  trotting  on  in  the 
still  night,  the  joyful  thought  for  the  first  time  oc- 
curred to  me  that  I  had  turned  my  back  upon  the 
Khanat  of  Bokhara,  and  that  I  was  actually  on  my 
way  to  that  West  which  I  loved  so  well.  My  trav- 
eling experience,  thought  I,  may  not  be  great,  but  I 
carry  back  with  me  what  is  worth  more  than  any 
thing — my  life.  I  could  not  contain  myself  for  joy 
when  I  thought  that  perhaps  I  might  be  so  fortunate 
as  to  reach  Persia,  that  Mecca  of  my  warmest  wish- 
es. Our  caravan,  consisting  of  400  camels,  a  few 
horses,  and  190  asses,  formed  a  long  chain ;  and  aft- 
er sturdily  marching  the  whole  night,  we  reached, 
early  in  the  morning,  the  station  Zeid,  which  consists 
of  a  few  wells  of  bad  water  at  six  miles'  distance 
from  Kerki.  There  were  in  the  caravan,  as  I  re- 
marked at  the  first  station,  many  others  besides  my- 
self who  were  longing  to  reach  the  southernmost 
frontiers  of  Central  Asia.  These  were  the  emanci- 
pated slaves,  with  whom  hadjis  were  intermixed,  and 
I  had  an  opportunity  of  witnessing  the  most  heart- 
rending incidents.  Near  me  was  an  old  man — a  fa- 
ther— bowed  down  by  years.  He  had  ransomed,  at 
Bokhara,  his  son,  a  man  in  his  thirtieth  year,  in  or- 
der to  restore  a  protector  to  his  family  left  behind — 
that  is  to  say,  to  his  daughter-in-law  a  husband,  to 
his  children  a  father.  The  price  was  fifty  ducats, 
and  its  payment  had  reduced  the  poor  old  man  to 
beggary.  "But,"  said  he  to  me,  "rather  the  beg- 
gar's staff  than  my  son  in  chains."  His  home  was 
Khaf,  in  Persia. 

From  the  same  city,  not  far  from  us,  was  another 


Chap.  XII.  HEART-RENDING  INCIDENTS.  277 

man,  still  of  active  strength,  but  his  hair  had  turned 
gray  with  sorrow,  for  he  had  been  despoiled  by  the 
Turkomans,  some  eight  years  ago,  of  wife,  sister,  and 
six  children.  The  unfortunate  man  had  to  wander 
from  place  to  place  a  whole  year  in  Khiva  and  Bok- 
hara to  discover  the  spot  in  which  those  near  mem- 
bers of  his  family  were  languishing  in  captivity. 
After  long  search,  he  found  that  his  wife,  sister,  and 
two  youngest  children  had  succumbed  under  the  se- 
verity of  their  servitude,  and  that,  of  the  four  chil- 
dren that  survived,  he  could  only  ransom  half.  The 
remaining  two  having  besides  grown  up,  the  sum  de- 
manded for  them  was  beyond  his  means.  Farther 
on  sat  a  young  man  from  Herat,  who  had  ransomed 
his  mother.  Only  two  years  ago,  this  woman,  now 
in  her  fiftieth  year,  was,  with  her  husband  and  eldest 
son,  surprised  by  an  alaman.  After  seeing  those 
near  relatives  both  fall,  in  self-defense,  under  the 
lances  and  swords  of  the  Turkomans,  she  experienced 
herself  unceasing  sufferings  until  sold  for  sixteen  duc- 
ats in  Bokhara.  The  owner,  discovering  a  son  in 
him  who  sought  to  ransom  her,  exacted  a  double 
amount,  thus  turning  filial  piety  to  cruelly  usurious 
account.  Nor  must  I  omit  to  mention  another  un- 
happy case — that  of  an  inhabitant  of  Tebbes.  He 
was  captured  eight  years  ago,  and  after  the  lapse  of 
two  years  he  was  ransomed  by  his  father.  They 
were  both  returning  home,  and  were  three  leagues 
from  their  native  city,  when  they  were  suddenly  at- 
tacked by  the  Turkomans,  taken  prisoners,  led  back 
to  Bokhara,  and  again  sold  as  slaves.  Now,  they 
were  a  second  time  freed,  and  were  being  conveyed  to 
their  homes. 


278  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XII. 

But  why  any  longer  distress  the  reader  with  these 
cruelties  ?  Unfortunately,  the  above  are  only  a  few 
sketches  of  that  lamentable  plague  by  which,  for  cen- 
turies, those  districts,  but  more  especially  the  north- 
eastern part  of  Persia,  have  been  depopulated. 

Among  the  Tekke  Turkomans  are  reckoned  at  the 
present  hour  more  than  15,000  mounted  robbers, 
who  are  intent  upon  kidnapping  expeditions  night 
and  day ;  and  one  can  easily  form  an  idea  of  how 
many  houses  and  villages  are  devastated,  how  much 
family  happiness  destroyed,  by  these  greedy  freeboot- 
ers. 

We  started  from  Zeid  about  noon.  The  whole 
country  is  one  dry,  barren  plain,  only  occasionall}' 
producing  a  sort  of  thistle,  the  favorite  fodder  of  the 
camels.  It  surprises  us  to  see  how  these  animals 
tear  with  their  tongue  and  swallow  a  plant,  to  the 
sting  of  which  the  hardest  hand  is  sensible. 

We  continued  to  proceed  in  a  southwesterly  direc- 
tion. They  pointed  out  to  us  from  a  distance  some 
Turkomans  of  the  tribe  Kara,  watching  for  prey,  and 
who  would  have  been  disposed  even  to  attack  our 
caravan  had  not  its  size  rendered  it  unassailable. 
Toward  evening  we  encamped.  The  adventurers 
galloped  by  us  at  two  different  points.  We  sent  a 
few  shots  after  them,  and  they  made  no  second  dem- 
onstration. An  hour  after  sunset  we  set  off  again, 
and  after  advancing  with  the  greatest  caution  the 
whole  night,  we  arrived  next  morning  at  the  ruins  of 
Andkhuy. 

The  caravan  took  up  its  quarters  at  the  end  of  the 
ancient  city,  near  the  charbag  of  the  khan,  and  in  its 


Chap.  XII.  OPEN  A  SHOP.— NO  SALES.  £79 

immediate  proximity  all  those  travelers  also  station- 
ed themselves  who,  aware  what  notorious  robbers  the 
inhabitants  were,  did  not  dare  to  withdraw  from  the 
prptection  of  the  kervanbashi.  We  found  that  they 
had  determined  that  we  should  stay  here  a  few  days, 
because  the  regulations  respecting  the  customs  never 
cease  to  occasion  delay,  as  the  khan  or  his  vizir  al- 
Avays  superintends  in  person.  The  khan  begins  by 
demanding  ordinarily  exorbitant  sums  as  the  tax  for 
men  (^.  e.,  emancipated  slaves),  for  cattle,  and  bales 
of  goods ;  and  as  he  allows  the  matter  to  be  discuss- 
ed with  himself,  the  question  how  far  the  tax  is  to  be 
levied  depends  only  upon  the  adroitness  of  the  ker- 
vanbashi and  the  leisure  time  at  his  disposal.  To 
avoid  staying  through  this  tiresome  operation,  I  went 
with  the  other  hadjis  into  the  city,  to  seek  shelter 
under  the  cool  shade  of  an  old  medresse,  and  also  to 
open  a  shop  at  the  bazar,  to  realize  by  the  sale  of  my 
cutlery  the  necessary  food  for  the  day,  and  a  little 
money.  Long  did  I  wander  about  the  ruins  before 
I  was  able  to  find  a  place.  I  at  last  took  up  my  po- 
sition near  the  residence  of  the  khan,  in  the  court  of 
a  mosque.  The  bazar  consisted  only  of  a  few  ware- 
houses where  bread  was  sold,  and  of  two  or  three 
shops  for  the  sale  of  a  little  linen  and  cheap  ready- 
made  clothes.  Our  presence  had  given  some  anima- 
tion to  the  market;  our  stall  was  surrounded  by 
women  and  children  from  morning  till  evening;  but 
still  we  could  not  get  rid  of  our  stock,  for  these  peo- 
ple offered  us  in  exchange  only  fruit  and  bread  in- 
stead of  money ;  of  course,  we  could  not  consent  to 
such  a  barter  for  raw  materials  in  a  country  where  a 


280  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XII. 

single  tenghe  (three-quarter  franc)  will  purchase  fifty 
melons.  These  melons  are  far  from  being  as  good 
as  those  I  had  seen  on  the  banks  of  the  Oxus ;  but 
it  is  astonishing  what  a  quantity  of  fruit,  corn,  and 
rice  is  raised  in  this  desert-like  neighborhood,  only 
scantily  watered  by  a  little  salt  stream  flowing  hith- 
er from  Maymene.  In  summer  a  stranger  finds  this 
water — to  the  execrable  taste  of  which  the  inhabit- 
ants are  accustomed  —  quite  undrinkable ;  and  al- 
though it  generates  no  worms  (rishte)  like  that  in 
Bokhara,  it  is  said  to  produce  many  other  evil  con- 
sequences. The  climate,  too,  is  in  bad  repute ;  and 
a  Persian  verse  says  with  reason, 

"  Andkhuy  has  hitter  salt  loater,  scorching  sand^  venomotts 
flies^  and  even  scorpio7is.  Vaunt  it  ?iot,/or  it  is  the  picture  of 
a  real  helV 

And  y^t^  in  spite  of  all  these  disadvantages,  Andkhuy 
was,  only  thirty  years  ago,  very  flourishing.  It  is 
said  to  have  had  a  population  of  50,000  souls.  They 
carried  on  an  important  trafiic  with  Persia  in  the 
fine  black  sheep-skins  called  by  us  Astrakhan,  and 
even  seriously  rivaled  Bokhara,  where  this  article  is 
produced  of  first-rate  quality.  The  camels  of  And- 
khuy are  the  most  in  request  throughout  Turkestan, 
particularly  a  kind  called  ner,  distinguished  by  abun- 
dant hair  streaming  down  from  the  neck  and  breast, 
a  slim,  slender  figure,  and  extraordinary  strength. 
These  animals  have  become  scarce,  the  inhabitants 
themselves  having  for  the  most  part  either  emigrated 
or  perished. 

Mollah  Ishak  had  a  countryman  here,  who  was 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  imams,  and,  as  he  had 


CiiAP.  XIT.  ANDKHUY.  281 

invited  us,  I  found  an  opportunity  to  become  ac- 
quainted with  the  chief  residents  of  the  spiritual  or- 
der. I  was  much  struck  by  the  great  disorder  reign- 
ing in  the  regulations  both  as  to  justice  and  religion. 
The  kazi  kelan  (superior  judge),  who  in  Bokhara  and 
Khiva  is  a  great  man,  plays  here  the  part  of  a  buf- 
foon. Every  one  does  as  he  thinks  fit,  and  even  the 
most  atrocious  crime  can  be  compounded  for  by  a 
present.  The  consequence  is,  that  the  inhabitants 
speak  of  Bokhara  as  the  model  of  justice,  of  piety, 
and  earthly  grandeur,  and  would  think  themselves 
quite  happy  if  the  emir  would  only  condescend  to 
take  them  under  his  sceptre.  An  old  Ozbeg  remark- 
ed to  me  that  "even  the  Frenghi  (English)  (God  par- 
don him  his  sins!)  would  be  better  than  the  present 
Mussulman  government."  He  added  that  he  still  re- 
membered a  Hekim  Bashi  (Moorcroft)  "who  died  in 
his  uncle's  house  in  the  time  of  the  Emir  Haydar ; 
that  he  was  a  clever  magician  and  good  j)hysician ; 
that  he  might  have  become  as  rich  as  he  pleased ; 
but,  with  all  these  advantages,  he  remained  unassu- 
ming and  condescending  toward  every  one,  even  to- 
ward women.  I  made  many  inquiries  respecting  the 
death  of  this  traveler,  and  all  agreed  in  their  accounts 
that  he  had  died  of  fever,  which  is,  indeed,  far  more 
probable  than  the  story  of  his  having  been  poisoned. 
Andkhuy  contains  at  present  about  2000  houses, 
which  form  the  city,  and  about  3000  tents,  which  are 
either  in  its  environs,  or  scattered  over  the  oases  in 
the  desert.  The  number  of  inhabitants  is  estimated 
at  15,000.  They  are  principally  Turkomans,  of  the 
tribe  Alieli,  intermixed  with  Ozbegs  and  a  few  Tad- 


282  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XII. 

jiks.  Formerly  Andkhuy,  like  Khulum,  Kunduz, 
and  Balkh,  formed  a  separate  khanat ;  byt,  lying  on 
the  high  road  to  Herat,  it  is  more  exposed  to  the  at- 
tacks of  the  Emirs  of  Bokhara  and  Afghanistan  than 
those  other  places  which  I  have  mentioned.  Down 
to  the  year  1840  it  is  said  to  have  been  tolerably 
flourishing.  It  was  then  subject  to  Bokhara,  and 
was  compelled  to  oppose  the  victorious  march  upon 
the  Oxus  of  Yar  Mohammed  Khan,  who  besieged  it 
during  four  months,  and  at  last  only  took  it  by  storm. 
The  city  was  plundered,  and  left  a  heap  of  ruins. 
The  greater  part  of  those  inhabitants  who  could  not 
fly  fell  under  the  swords  of  the  merciless  Afghans. 
The  present  sovereign,  Gazanfer  Khan,  to  preserve 
himself  from  utter  destruction,  threw  himself  into 
the  arms  of  the  Afghans,  and  thereby  made  bitter 
enemies  of  Bokhara  on  one  side,  and  of  the  neigh- 
boring Maymene  on  the  other.  Even  during  our 
stay  in  Andkhuy  he  was  obliged  to  join  in  person 
the  Serdar  of  Balkh,  and  give  battle  to  Maymene, 
which,  however,  inflicted  upon  the  allies  a  signal  de- 
feat. 

In  the  mean  time  all  things  were  in  confusion  in 
our  caravan.  The  vizir,  who  wanted,  during  the  ab- 
sence of  the  khan,  to  enrich  himself  by  an  enormous 
increase  of  the  im^posts,  was  already  quarreling  with 
the  kervanbashi.  From  words,  indeed,  they  soon 
came  to  blows ;  and  as  the  inhabitants  sided  with 
the  caravan,  the  members  of  the  latter  stoutly  stood 
to  their  arms,  and  made  up  their  minds  for  the  worst. 
Happily,  the  khan,  a  well-disposed  man,  arrived  at 
that  very  moment  from  the  seat  of  war ;  he  made  up 


Chap.  XII.  A  DANGEROUS  LOCALITY.  283 

the  differences  by  diminishing  the  immoderate  tax 
imposed  by  his  vizir,  and  dismissed  us  upon  our  way 
Avith  the  recommendation  to  be  careful,  a's  the  Turk- 
omans, turning  to  account  the  confusion  that  reigned 
every  where,  were  scouring  the  country  and  besetting 
all  the  ways.  But  this  did  not  inspire  in  us  much 
alarm,  for  in  Andkhuy  our  caravan  had  swelled  to 
double  its  former  size,  so  that  we  had  no  cause  to 
apprehend  a  surprise  by  robbers. 

We  set  out  that  very  same  afternoon,  encamping 
at  Yeketut,  distant  but  a  league  from  Andkhuy.  It 
was  the  place  appointed  for  our  rendezvous.  We 
proceeded  hence  during  the  night.  The  next  station 
was  on  the  bank  of  a  stream  coming  from  Maymene. 
Its  bed,  unusually  deep  in  many  places,  is  thickly 
planted  with  trees.  From  Andkhuy  to  Maymene 
they  reckon  twenty-two  miles — a  three  days' journev 
for  camels.  Of  this  distance  we  had  thus  far  per- 
formed eight  miles ;  the  remainder  (fourteen  miles) 
it  would  have  been  easy  to  accomplish,  had  we  not 
been  obliged  to  pass  secretly  by  Khairabad,  which 
should  have  been  our  second  station,  and  reach  next 
morning  the  district  of  Maymene.  Khairabad  be- 
longed then  to  the  Afghans,  and  the  kervanbashi 
was  quite  right  in  not  venturing  to  approach  it,  as 
he  knew  that  even  in  peace  the  Afghans  committed 
virtual  robbcFy  under  pretense  of  levying  their  cus- 
toms; and  it  might  be  readily  imagined  how  the 
military  authorities  would  have  treated  the  caravan 
liad  it  fallen  into  their  hands. 

Some  inhabitants  of  Khairabad  who  were  in  the 
caravan,  on  coming  near  their  native  city,  wanted  to 


284  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XII. 

separate  from  us ;  but  they  were  forced  to  continue 
their  journey,  because  treachery  was  apprehended, 
and,  in  case  of  discovery,  the  Afghans  would  have 
confiscated  every  thing.  Although  the  camels  were 
heavily  laden,  the  journey  was  continued,  without 
interruption,  from  noon  until  eight  o'clock  next 
morning.  The  poor  tired  brutes  were  left  behind ; 
and  great  was  our  joy  when  we  arrived  the  next 
morning,  without  accident,  in  the  Khanat  of  May- 
mene.  The  last  station  was  a  harassing  one,  not 
merely  from  these  apprehensions,  but  from  the  physr 
ical  difficulties  that  it  presented ;  for,  about  nine 
miles  from  Andkhuy,  the  country  becomes  more  and 
more  hilly,  until,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Maymene, 
it  is  quite  mountainous.  Besides  this,  we  had  to 
cross  a  small  portion  of  the  dangerous  Batkak  (which 
consists  of  marshes),  where,  notwithstanding  the  heat 
of  the  season,  there  was  mud  in  many  places.  This 
caused  the  camels  and  asses  much  suffering.  I  rode 
a  sturdy  little  brute ;  but  as  his  small  feet  sank  so 
often,  he  got  tired  of  pulling  them  out  again,  and  gave 
me  much  trouble  in  shouting,  entreating,  and  tugging 
before  I  could  get  him  to  advance  from  the  spongy 
ground. 

We  encamped  at  the  foot  of  a  small  citadel  named 
Akkale,  which  is  distant  from  Maymene  four  leagues. 
The  kervanbashi  made  a  present  to  the  hadjis  of  two 
sheep  as  a  grateful  acknowledgment  to  God  for  hav- 
ing happily  escaped  from  the  peril  to  which  the  cara- 
van had  been  exposed.  As  the  senior,  I  was  charged 
with  the  division  of  the  donation.  We  ate  that 
whole  day,  instead  of  bread,  roast  meat,  and  sang  to- 


Chap.  XII.  ARRIVAL  IN  MAYMENE.  285 

gether  in  the  evening  some  telkins  (hymns),  to  the 
accompaniment,  under  my  direction,  of  a  zikr — that 
is,  v/e  shouted  out  to  the  full  extent  of  our  voices  two 
thousand  times  Ya  hoo !  ya  hakk  ! 

From  this  spot  our  arrival  was  reported  in  May- 
mene.  Toward  evening  an  officer  of  the  customs — a 
civil,  honest  Ozbeg — came  to  us,  and  wrote  down  his 
report.  At  night  we  again  started,  and  were  in 
Maymene  next  morning. 


286  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIIL 


CHAPTER  XIIL 


JIAYMENE. — ITS  POLITICAL   POSITION   AND   IMPORTANCE. — REIGNING   PRINCE. — 

RIVALRY  OF  BOKHARA  AND  KABUL. — DOST  MOHAMMED  KHAN. ISHAN   ETTJ15 

AND     MOLLAH    KHALMURAD. KHANAT    AND    FORTRESS     OF     MAYMENE. ES- 
CAPED  RUSSIAN   OFFENDERS. MURGAB    RIVER    AND    BALA   MURGAB. — DJEM- 

SHIDI    AND   AFGHAN. — RUINOUS    TAXES    ON    MERCHANDISE. — KALE    NO. — HE- 
ZARE. — AFGHAN   EXACTIONS   AND   MALADMINISTRATION. 


"  Wild  ivarriors  of  the  Turquoise  hills,  and  those 
Who  dwell  beyond  the  everlasting  snows 
Of  Hindoo  Kosh,  in  stormy  freedom  bred, 
Their  fort  the  rock,  their  camp  the  torrent's  bed." 

Moore,  Veiled  Prophet. 


Before  entering  Maymene,  let  me  describe  the  po- 
litical state  of  that  country,  for,  as  that  city  plays  a 
part  of  great  importance,  some  prtiliminary  observa- 
tions are  here  quite  indispensable. 

The  whole  tract  of  land  on  this  side  of  the  Oxus, 
as  far  as  Hindukush  and  Herat,  has  from  ancient 
times  been  the  field  of  continual  quarrels  and  war- 
fare ;  and  these  have  involved  not  only  the  small 
predatory  states  in  its  vicinity,  Kunduz,  Khulum, 
Balkh,  Aktche,  Serepul,  Shiborgan,  Andkhuy,  Be- 
dakhshan,  and  Maymene,  but  the  emirs  themselves, 
both  of  Bokhara  and  Kabul.  These  princes,  to  car- 
ry out  their  plans  of  conquest,  have  been  ever  ready 
to  kindle  the  flames  of  dissension ;  sometimes,  too, 
they  have  taken  an  active  part  in  these  differences. 


Chap.  XIII.  ^  MAYMENE.  287 

They  have  striven  to  gain  over  to  their  respective 
causes  some  one  of  the  above-named  cities,  or  even 
actually  to  incorjDorate  it,  and  to  make  use  of  it  for 
the  particular  ends  they  had  in  view.  The  emirs 
were,  in  fact,  the  principal  rivals  in  the  field.  Until 
the  commencement  of  this  century,  the  influence  of 
Bokhara  had  almost  always  predominated ;  but  it 
has  been  in  more  recent  times  supplanted  by  the  Af- 
ghan tribes  of  the  Durani,  Sadduzi,  and  Barekzi; 
and  at  last  Dost  Mohammed  Khan  succeeded,  partly 
by  force  and  partly  by  cunning,  in  bringing  under 
his  sceptre  all  the  states  I  have  mentioned,  with  the 
exception  of  Bedakhshan  and  Maymene.  He  formed 
the  province  Turkestan,  naming  for  its  capital  Balkh. 
This  city  is  made  the  seat  of  a  serdar,  who  has  under 
his  command  ten  thousand  men,  partly  paltan  (regu- 
lar troops),  partly  native  militia,  and  three  batteries 
of  field-pieces.  The  possession  of  the  mountainous 
Bedakhshan  was  not  much  coveted  by  the  energetic 
Dost  Mohammed  Khan.  Its  native  prince  became 
a  vassal,  and  the  Afghan  was  for  the  time  satisfied. 
The  case  stands  differently  with  Maymene.  It  lies 
half  way  on  the  route  to  Bokhara,  and  has  been  sev- 
eral times  besieged,  without  success,  both  by  Dost  Mo- 
hammed Khan  and  by  Yar  Mohammed  Khan.  In 
1862,  when  the  gray  Barekzi  prince  drew  the  sword 
to  punish  faithless  Herat,  the  whole  o^Central  Asia 
trembled ;  but  Maymene  again  resisted,  and  was 
again  victorious.  The  bravery  of  the  Ozbegs  there 
became  proverbial,  and  an  idea  may  be  formed  of  the 
proud  spirit  of  this  city  Avhen  she  could  affirm,  witli 
truth,  at  the  death  of  Dost  Mohammed  Khan,  that 


288  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIII. 

she  alone,  of  all  the  neighboring  states,  had  refused 
to  do  homage  to  the  flag  of  the  Afghans. 

The  death  of  Dost  Mohammed  Khan — an  event 
of  the  highest  importance  to  the  destiny  of  Central 
Asia — was  thought  to  threaten  it  with  great  change 
and  political  revolutions.  The  Emir  of  Bokhara  was 
the  first  who  sought  to  profit  by  the  occasion,  and,  in 
spite  of  his  notorious  penuriousness,  sent  a  subsidy 
of  ten  thousand  tilla  to  the  little  warlike  Maymene ; 
and  an  agreement  was  made  that  the  emir  should 
cross  the  Oxus,  and,  uniting  his  forces  with  those  of 
his  ally,  should  make  a  simultaneous  attack  upon 
their  common  enemy,  the  Afghans.  The  reigning 
prince  of  Maymene,  however,  being  a  youth  of  fiery 
spirit,*  was  too  impatient  to  await  his  ally's  ap- 
proach, began  the  struggle  with  the  forces  at  his  own 
disposal,  and  succeeded  in  capturing  some  small 
places  from  the  Afghans,  a  success  which  enabled 
him  to  ornament  the  gate  of  his  fortress  with  three 
hundred  long-haired  Afghan  skulls.  During  our 
stay  in  his  city  they  were  making  preparations  to  re- 
new the  contest  on  a  larger  scale. 

When  the  caravan  had  encamped  here,  outside  the 
towij,  I  visited  the  tekkie  of  a  certain  Ishan  Eyub,  to 
whom  I  had  letters  of  recommendation  from  Hadji 
Salih.  I  spared  no  pains  to  gain  his  favorable  opin- 
ion, for  I  thought  it  would  be  of  service  to  me  in  the 
event  of  a  rencontre  which  I  expected  to  make  in  May- 
mene, and  which  I  dreaded,  as  it  might  have  the  dis- 
agreeable effect  of  betraying  my  identity,  and,  my  dis- 
guise once  discovered,  I  might  again  be  exposed  to 
*  He  is  in  his  22cl  year. 


Chap.  XIH.  DANGEROUS  RENCONTRE.  289 

great  danger.  The  person  whom  I  so  dreaded  to 
meet  was  a  certain  Mollah  Khalmurad,  who  had  been 
known  to  me  in  Constantinople,  and  had  given  me 
lessons  in  the  Turkish  Djagatay  during  a  period  of 
four  months.  The  mollah — a  very  cunning  fellow — 
had  already  perceived  on  the  Bosj^horus  that  I  was 
not  the  genuine  Keshid  EfFendi  for  whom  I  was 
taken.  Having  been  told  of  my  intention  of  travel- 
ing to  Bokhara,  he  had,  indeed,  formally  tendered  his 
services  as  cicerone,  assuring  me  at  the  same  time 
that  he  had  served  the  English  Mollah  Yusuf  (Dr. 
Wolff)  in  the  same  capacity.  As  I  left  him  in  doubt 
respecting  my  intentions,  he  proceeded  to  Mecca.  I 
knew  that  his  design  had  been  to  return  home  by 
Bombay  and  Karatch,  and  was  apprehensive  of  en- 
countering him,  for  I  was  firmly  convinced  that,  in 
spite  of  the  kindness  with  which  I  had  loaded  him, 
he  was  quite  capable  of  denouncing  me,  if  he  had  the 
slightest  interest  in  doino;  so. 

All  communication  being  interrupted  between 
Maymene  and  Bokhara  by  the  Afghan  campaign, 
I  had  the  good  fortune  to  escape  his  taking  me  by 
surprise  in  the  latter  city ;  but  in  Maymene  I  hard- 
ly expected  to  be  so  lucky,  and,  to  foil  any  possible 
attack  from  this  quarter,  I  felt  it  necessary  to  secure 
for  myself  some  firm  locus  standi,  which  I  might  do 
by  striving  to  win  the  good  opinion  and  favor  of 
Ishan  Eyub,  who  was  generally  respected.  After 
having  been  three  days  in  the  city,  I  took  the  initia- 
tive and  made  inquiries  as  to  my  man.  "What! 
Khalrauradl"  said  the  ishan,  in  astonishment;  "thou 
hast  been  acquainted  with  him  (peace  to  him,  and 

T 


290  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIII. 

long  life  to  us !).  He  had  the  happiness  of  dying  in 
Mecca,  and,  as  he  was  my  bosom  friend,  I  have  re- 
ceived his  children  into  my  house,  and  the  little  one 
there  (pointing,  as  he  said  that,  to  a  boy)  is  one  of 
his  sons/'  I  gave  the  child  a  whole  string  of  glass 
beads,  said  three  fatihas  for  the  salvation  of  the  soul 
of  the  departed,*  and  my  well-grounded  apprehen- 
sions therefore  at  once  ceased. 

I  began  now  to  move  about  more  at  my  ease.  I 
soon  opened  a  stall  at  the  corner  of  a  street,  but,  to 
my  very  great  disappointment,  my  stock  now  was 
rapidly  dwindling  away.  ^' Hadji  Keshid,"  said  one 
of  my  fellow-travelers,  "thou  hast  already  eaten  up 
half  of  thy  knives,  needles,  and  glass  beads ;  thou 
wilt  before  long  have  devoured  the  other  half,  and 
thy  ass  to  boot.  What  wilt  thou  then  do?''  He 
was  right,  thought  I,  for,  in  fact,  what  was  I  to  do  ? 
My  sombre  prospects,  and  particularly  the  approach- 
ing winter,  made  me  a  little  fearful,  for  I  was  still  far 
from  the  Persian  frontiers,  and  every  attempt  I  made 
to  replenish  my  case  I  saw  fail.  "A  dervish  or  a 
beggar,"  I  said,  "never  passes  hungry  from  the  door 
of  an  Ozbeg.  Every  where  he  has  a  well-founded 
hope  of  something,  bread  or  fruits;  here  and  there, 
too,  an  old  article'of  attire,  and  this  sends  him,  in  his 
own  opinion,  richly  provided  on  his  way." 

*  On  my  return  to  Telieran,  I  was  told  by  my  friend  Israael 
Effendi,  then  charge  (T affaires  of  the  Porte  at  the  Persian  court, 
that  a  month  before  my  arrival  a  mollah  from  Maymene,  whose 
description  tallied  exactly  with  that  of  my  mollah,  whom  we 
thought  in  the  other  world,  had  passed  through  and  had  spoken 
at  the  embassy  of  me  as  of  his  former  pupil  in  Djagatay.    Khal- 


Chap.  XIII.  MAYMENE.— HUSEIN  KHAN.  291 

That  I  must  have  suffered,  and  suffered  much,  the 
reader  will  well  understand ;  but  habit,  and  the  hope 
of  returning  to  Europe,  enabled  me  to  bear  my  bur- 
den. I  slept  sweetly  enough  in  the  open  air,  on  the 
bare  earth,  esteeming  myself  especially  happy  in  hav- 
ins:  no  longer  to  dread  constant  discovery  or  a  death 
by  torture,  for  my  hadji  character  excited  suspicion 
nowhere. 

The  Khanat  Maymene,  so  far  as  its  peopled  dis- 
trict extends,  is  eighteen  miles  broad  and  twenty 
miles  long.  Besides  its  capital,  it  contains  ten  vil- 
lages and  cantons,  of  which  the  most  considerable 
are  Kaisar,  Khafir-kale,  Alvar,  and  Khodjakendu. 
The  population,  divided  into  settlers  and  nomads,  is 
estimated  at  100,000  souls;  in  point  of  nationality, 
they  are  for  the  most  part  Ozbegs  of  the  tribes  of 
Min,  Atchmayli,  and  Daz ;  they  can  bring  into  the 
field  from  five  to  six  thousand  cavalry,  well  mounted 
and  well  armed.  They  are  distinguished,  as  I  before 
mentioned,  for  their  bravery.  The  present  ruler  of 
Maymene  is  Husein  Khan,  son  of  Hukumet  Khan. 
The  latter  was,  by  order  of  his  own  brother,  who  is 
still  living,  and  is  uncle  of  the  reigning  prince,  hurled 
down  from  the  walls  of  the  citadel,  "in  order,"  as 
he  expressed  himself,  "that  his  abler  son  might  be 
placed  at  the  head  of  affairs."  Now,  as  the  latter 
was  then  still  incapable  of  reigning,  the  motive  of  the 
atrocious  crime  is  easy  to  be  divined.  Mirza  Yakoub 
— that  is  the  name  of  this  amiable  uncle — plays,  in- 
deed, the  part  of  vizir,  but  every  body  knows  that 

murad  is  consequently  not  dead,  and  some  singular  chance  alone 
prevented  our  coming  in  contact. 


292  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Ciiap.  XIII. 

Husein  Khan  is  only  his  instrument.  In  Maymene, 
at  all  events,  the  young  prince  was  more  liked  than 
his  uncle.  The  latter  would  be  regarded,  even  among 
Europeans,  as  a  man  of  agreeable  exterior ;  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Ozbegs  he  is,  therefore,  an  Adonis.  He 
is  praised  for  his  goodness  of  heart  by  men  who  for- 
get how  he  enforces  the  tyrannical  law  by  which  the 
khan,  instead  of  inflicting  corporal  punishment  or  im- 
posing fines,  sends  oft"  his  subjects  to  the  slave-mar- 
ket of  Bokhara.  The  khans  transmit  every  month 
a  fixed  number  of  these  unfortunates  to  that  city. 
It  is  not  considered  strange,  as  it  is  an  ancient  cus- 
tom. The  city  of  Maymene  stands  in  the  midst  of 
hills,  and  is  only  visible  when  approached  within  a 
distance  of  a  quarter  of  a  league.  It  is  extremely 
filthy  and  ill  built,  and  consists  of  1500  mud  huts, 
and  a  bazar  built  of  brick,  that  seems  about  to  fall ; 
it  has,  besides,  three  mosques  and  two  medresse,  the 
former  constructed  of  mud,  the  latter  of  bricks.  The 
inhabitants  are  Ozbegs,  with  some  Tadjiks,  Heratis, 
about  fifty  families  of  Jews,  a  few  Hindoos,  and  Af- 
ghans. These  enjoy  equal  rights,  and  are  not  dis- 
turbed for  reasons  of  religion  or  nationality.  With 
respect  to  Maymene  considered  as  a  fortress,  I  was 
far  from  being  able  to  discover  in  the  simple  city 
walls  and  fosses  in  the  citadel,  situated  on  its  west 
side,  the  imposing  strong-hold  said  to  be  capable  of 
resisting  the  Afghan  artillery,  mounted  in  English 
fashion,  and  of  bidding  defiance  to  all  the  power  of 
Dost  Mohammed  Khan.  The  walls,  made  of  earth, 
are  twelve  feet  high,  and  about  five  broad ;  the  fosse 
is  neither  broad  nor  particularly  deep  ;  the  citadel  is 


Chap.  XIII.        STRENGTH  OF  MAYMENE.— HORSES.  293 

elevated,  and  situated  upon  a  conspicuous  hill  of 
steep  ascent,  but  in  the  neighborhood  there  are  still 
higher  hills,  whence  a  battery  could  in  a  few  hours 
reduce  it  to  ashes.  It  is  therefore  probable  that  the 
renowned  strength  of  Maymene  consists  rather  in  the 
bravery  of  its  defenders  than  in  its  walls  or  ditches. 
One  distinguishes  at  the  first  glance  in  the  inhabitant 
the  bold  and  fearless  rider,  and  it  is  only  the  Ozbeg 
of  Shehri  Sebz  who  can  contest  with  him  the  palm. 
The  resolute,  warlike  character  of  the  inhabitants  of 
this  little  khanat,  and  the  possession,  besides,  of  the 
mountainous  pass  at  Murgab  (river),  will  ever  find 
enough  to  do  for  the  Afghans,  or  any  other  conquer- 
ors pressing  forward  from  the  south  toward  the 
Oxus ;  the  fortifications  of  Kerki  can  offer  but  a 
weak  resistance,  and  he  who  Avould  wish  to  take  Bok- 
hara must  destroy  Maymene,  or  be  sure  of  its  friend- 
ly feeling. 

In  Maymene,  the  kervanbashi  and  the  principal 
merchants  of  our  caravan  were  no  longer  detained  by 
difficulties  about  the  customs,  but  by  arrangements 
affecting  their  private  interests.  They  Avanted  to  at- 
tend at  least  two  or  three  horse-markets,  for  in  these 
parts  fine  horses  are  to  be  purchased  cheap,  which 
the  Ozbegs  and  the  Turkomans  of  the  places  around 
bring  to  the  market.  These  are  exported,  for  the 
most  part,  to  Herat,  Kandahar,  and  Kabul,  and  very 
frequently  to  India.  Horses  that  I  saw  sold  in  Per- 
sia for  thirty  or  forty  ducats,  fetch  here  from  a  hund- 
red to  a  hundred  and  sixty  tenghe  (from  fourteen  to 
fifteen  ducats),  and  never  did  I  behold  in  Bokhara, 
Khiva,  or  Karshi  horses  so  fine  sold  at  prices  so  low ; 


094,  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIIL 

but  it  is  not  only  with  respect  to  these  animals  that 
the  market  of  Maymene  affords  a  rich  choice ;  the 
natural  produce  of  the  country  and  home  manufac- 
tures, such  as  carpets  and  other  stuffs,  made  partly  of 
wool  and  partly  of  camefs  hair,  are  abundantly  sup- 
plied by  the  Turkoman  and  Djemshidi  women.  It 
deserves  notice  that  a  considerable  export  trade  is 
carried  on  to  Persia  and  Bagdad  in  raisins  (kish- 
mish),  aniseed,  and  pistachio  nuts  :  a  hundred  weight 
of  the  aniseed  costs  here  from  thirty  to  forty  tenghe. 

After  a  stay  of  eight  days  I  returned  to  the  cara- 
van, that  remained  outside  of  the  city,  in  order  to  in- 
form myself  as  to  the  day  when  it  would  resume  its 
journey.  I  heard  here,  to  my  astonishment,  that 
they  had  been  searching  for  me  the  whole  day  to  give 
my  evidence  to  get  four  Koumi  liberated,  who  had 
been  arrested  by  order  of  the  uncle  of  the  khan.  Ac- 
cording to  the  decree  of  the  judge,  nothing  could  free 
them. from  the  suspicion  of  being  runaway  slaves  but 
the  production  of  some  credible  witness  to  the  genu- 
ineness of  their  Turkish  origin.  Before  going  to  the 
khan  let  me  introduce  my  countrymen  to  the  reader, 
as  I  had  very  nearly  forgotten  these  highly  interest- 
ing members  of  our  caravan. 

These  people  were  nothing  more  nor  less  than 
Russian  criminals.  They  had  been  banished  to  Si- 
beria, where  they  had  for  eight  years  been  kept  at 
hard  labor  in  the  government  of  Tobolsk,  and  had 
escaped  across  the  immense  steppes  of  the  Kirghis  to 
Bokhara,  and  thence  were  striving  to  return  to  their 
own  country  by  Herat,  Meshed,  Teheran,  etc.,  to 
Giimrti  (Elizabethpol).     The  history  of  their  flight 


Chap.  XIII.  FUGITIVE  RUSSIANS.  295 

and  other  adventures  is  very  long.      I  will  only  give 
a  slight  sketch  of  it. 

In  the  last  campaign  between  Russia  and  Turkey, 
they  were  engaged  with  a  razzia  (tchapao)  in  the 
Caucasus  by  command  of  government,  or,  as  is  more 
probable,  on  their  own  account.  During  this  time 
they  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  Russian  patrol, 
and,  as  they  well  merited,  were  transported  to  Sibe- 
ria. Here  they  were  daily  employed  in  the  woods 
of  Tobolsk  with  felling  trees,  but  were  kept  at  night 
in  a  prison,  and  not  ill-treated,  for  they  were  fed  Mdth 
bread  and  soup,  and  often  also  with  meat.  Years 
elapsed  before  they  learned  to  speak  Russian ;  but 
they  did  at  last  learn  it  from  the  soldiers  Avho  guard- 
ed them.  Conversation  being  now  rendered  possi- 
ble, confidence  was  inspired  ;  bottles  of  brandy  (vod- 
ki)  were  tendered  reciprocally ;  and  as,  during  last 
spring,  one  day,  more  than  usual  of  the  warming  liq- 
uor had  been  handed  to  the  two  soldiers  on  guard, 
the  captives  seized  the  opportunity,  and,  instead  of 
oaks,  felled  the  robust  Russians,  exchanged  their  axes 
for  the  arms  of  those  whom  they  had  slaughtered, 
and  after  wandering  up  and  down  for  a  long  time, 
and  under  perilous  circumstances — in  which  they 
were  obliged  to  feed  even  upon  grass  and  upon  roots 
— they  finally  reached  some  Kirghis  tents,  to  them  a 
haven  of  security ;  for  the  nomads  regard  it  as  a  be- 
nevolent act  to  aid  fugitives  of  that  description. 
From  the  steppes  of  the  Kirghis  they  passed  by  Tash- 
kend  to  Bokhara,  where  the  emir  gave  them  some 
money  for  journey  expenses.  Although  on  their 
way  it  had  often  been  suspected  that  they  were  run- 


296  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIII. 

away  slaves,  it  was  not  until  they  reached  Maymene 
that  they  really  incurred  any  serious  danger. 

At  the  urgent  request  of  my  fellow-travelers  and 
of  the  kervanbashi,  I  went,  accompanied  by  the  Ishan 
Eyub,  the  very  same  day,  to  the  citadel.  Instead 
of  seeing  the  khan,  we  were  received  by  his  uncle ; 
he  admitted  my  testimony  as  competent,  and  the  four 
fugitives  were  liberated.  They  thanked  me  with 
tears  in  their  eyes ;  the  whole  caravan  was  rejoiced, 
and  two  days  afterward  we  resumed  our  journey  to 
Herat. 

The  route  passed  continuously  through  a  mount- 
ainous country.  The  first  station,  which  was  in  a 
southwesterly  direction,  was  reached  in  six  hours. 
It  is  called  Almar.  This  is  the  designation  common 
to  those  villages,  which  lie  there  scattered  at  a  little 
distance  from  each  other.  Hardly  had  the  caravan 
taken  up  its  quarters  here,  when  the  officers  of  the 
customs  at  Maymene  appeared,  escorted  by  a  few 
horsemen,  and  claimed  to  make  a  second  examina- 
tion. This  led  to  shouting,  quarreling,  and  negotia- 
tions which  lasted  a  few  hours ;  but  at  last  we  Avere 
obliged  to  submit,  and  after  the  poor  kervanbashi 
and  merchants  had  been  once  more  fleeced  for  dues 
in  respect  of  wares,  cattle,  and  slaves,  the  march  was 
resumed  toward  evening.  After  having  passed  the 
important  place  called  Kaisar,  we  reached  a  little  aft- 
er midnight  the  station  Narin.  We  had  traveled  five 
miles  through  valleys,  small,  fruitful,  but  abandoned ; 
indeed,  the  whole  of  this  fine  district  has  been  ren- 
dered unsafe  by  the  thieving  Turkomans,  Djemshidi, 
and  Firuzkuhi. 


Chap.  XIII.  TAXED  A  THIRD  TIME.  297 

In  Narin  only  a  few  hours'  rest  was  taken,  as  we 
had  before  us  a  stage  of  seven  hours.  After  having 
marched  without  cessation  the  whole  day,  we  reached 
in  the  evening  the  village  and  station  of  Tchitchek- 
too,  in  the  neighborhood  of  which  is  a  second  village 
called  Fehmsuzar.  As  the  kervanbashi  and  some  of 
the  other  travelers  had  business  at  the  village  Khod- 
jakendu,  which  lies  to  the  southeast,  at  a  distance 
of  three  leagues,  among  the  hills,  we  halted  here  the 
wliole  day.  The  place  itself  is  regarded  as  the  fron- 
tier ofMaymene,  and  at  the  same  time  of  all  Turkes- 
tan. A  yiizbashi  named  Devletmurad,  who  acts  here 
as  watcher  of  the  frontiers,  levied  in  this  Khanat  of 
Mayraene  a  third  custom-tax,  by  right  of  the  kam- 
tchin  pulu  (whip-money*).  On  my  expressing  my 
astonishment  to  a  Herat  merchant  about  this  unjust 
proceeding,  he  replied,  "We  thank  God  that  they 
only  tax  us.  Some  time  ago  we  could  not  pass 
Maymene  and  Andkhuy  without  risk,  for  the  cara- 
vans were  plundered  by  order  of  the  khan  himself, 
and  we  lost  every  thing."  Here  in  Tchitchektoo  I 
saw  the  last  of  Ozbeo;  nomads,  and  I  will  not  denv 
that  I  parted  from  this  open-hearted,  honest  people 
with  great  regret,  for  the  nomads  of  their  race  whom 
I  met  in  the  khanats  of  Khiva  and  Bokhara  have 
left  in  my  mind  the  most  pleasing  recollections  of 
any  natives  of  Central  Asia. 

*  It  is  the  practice  in  Central  Asia  to  give  to  the  escort  that 
accompanies  you  a  sum  of  money;  in  Germany  it  is  called 
drink-money,  but  in  the  East  whip-money.  This  yiizbashi  had 
the  right  to  exact  payment  from  every  passer-by,  even  although 
he  had  rendered  no  service  as  escort  or  guard. 


298  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XUI. 

The  caravan  was  here  taken  under  the  protection 
of  an  escort  of  Djemshidi,  sent  to  meet  us  by  their 
khan  from  Bala  Murgab,  because  the  route  hence- 
forth lay  through  a  tolerably  broad  valley,  having 
the  habitations  of  the  Sarik  Turkomans  on  the  right 
side,  and  of  the  mountaineer  robbers,  the  Firuzkuhi, 
on  the  left.  The  land  is  exceedingly  fertile,  but  it 
lies  there,  unhappily,  fallow  and  without  an  owner. 
As  I  heard,  the  caravan,  during  its  whole  journey 
from  Bokhara,  had  not  incurred  such  peril  as  it  did 
here.  Our  guard  consisted  of  thirty  Djemshidi,  well 
armed  and  well  mounted,  with  the  addition  of  about 
double  the  number  of  able-bodied  men  from  the  cara- 
van ;  nevertheless,  at  every  stej)  in  advance,  vedettes 
were  thrown  out  to  our  rio;ht  hand  and  to  our  left 
upon  the  hills,  and  all  were  in  the  greatest  anxiety. 
It  can  readily  be  imagined  in  what  a  state  of  mind 
were  the  j)oor  emancipated  slaves,  who  at  great 
trouble  and  expense  had  escaped  thus  far,  and  who 
now  saw  themselves  menaced  with  a  new  captiv- 
ity. 

The  size  of  the  caravan  and  the  precautions  taken 
happily  saved  us  from  surprise.  We  passed  the 
whole  day  through  magnificent  meadows,  which,  in 
spite  of  the  advanced  season  of  the  year,  were  cover- 
ed with  flowers  and  grass  that  came  up  to  our  knees  ; 
and  after  having  reposed  during  the  night,  we  arrived 
the  following  morning  at  the  ruins  of  the  fortress 
Kale  Veli :  it  was  peopled  only  two  years  ago,  but 
had  been  surprised  and  plundered  by  a  great  alaman 
of  the  Sarik-Turkomans.  The  inhabitants  had  been 
partly  sold  as  slaves  and  partly  massacred ;  the  few 


Chap.  XIII.  ROUGH  MOUNTAIN  PASS.  299 

empty  houses  still  existing  and  the  walls  of  the  forti- 
fication will  soon  be  a  complete  ruin.  The  Djem- 
shidi  horsemen,  who  thus  far  had  only  been  our  es- 
cort a  single  day,  now  demanded  their  whip-money ; 
every  one  who  traveled  mounted  or  on  foot  was  to 
pay  it  once,  but  the  slaves  twofold.  The  escort  af- 
firmed that  their  present  claim  was  well  founded,  as 
they  would  not  receive  any  portion  of  the  toll-money 
paid  to  the  khan  in  Bala  Murgab. 

Toward  evening,  on  the  second  day  after  we  had 
left  Tchitchektoo,  we  reached  the  end  of  that  beauti- 
ful valley,  and  the  way,  leading  to  the  Kiver  Murgab, 
traversed  a  rough  mountainous  pass,  in  many  places 
very  steep,  and  at  the  same  time  so  narrow  that 
loaded  camels  advancing  singly  could  with  difiiculty 
wind  their  way  through ;  it  is  said  to  be  the  only 
practicable  passage  leading  over  the  mountain  to  the 
bank  of  the  river.  A  body  of  troops  that  wished  to 
cross  the  Murgab  would  have  either  to  pass  through 
the  desert  (and  for  this  they  must  be  on  good  terms 
with  the  Salor  and  the  Sarik),  or  make  their  way 
through  this  pass,  for  which  enterprise  the  friendship 
of  the  Djemshidi  is  essential,  as  their  hostility  might 
in  the  defiles  be  prejudicial  even  to  the  strongest 
army. 

It  was  midnis^ht  when  we  arrived  on  the  banks  of 
the  river.  Worn  out  by  their  painful  mountainous 
journey,  men  and  beasts  all  fell  into  a  profound 
sleep. 

On  awakino;  next  mornins^  I  found  that  we  were 
in  a  long  valley  surrounded  by  lofty  mountains,  the 
central  point,  through  which  the  clear  green  waters 


300  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIIL 

of  the  Murgab*  cut  their  way,  affording  a  most 
charming  picture  to  the  eye. 

We  proceeded  along  the  bank  of  the  river  for  half 
an  hour  to  find  a  ford,  for  the  current  is  very  strong, 
and,  although  not  very  deep,  it  can  not  be  crossed  at 
all  places,  owing  to  the  blocks  of  stone  lying  in  its 
bed. 

The  crossing  commenced  with  the  horses,  and  then 
followed  the  camels,  and  our  asses  were  to  close  the 
procession.  Now  these  animals,  it  is  well  known, 
have  a  great  dread  of  mud  and  water.  I  thought  it 
but  a  necessary  measure  of  prudence  to  deposit  my 
knapsack,  containing  my  MSS. — the  most  precious 
result,  the  spolia  opima^  of  my  journey — upon  the 
back  of  a  camel ;  then,  seating  myself  upon  the  emp- 
ty saddle,  I  forced  my  ass  into  the  river.  When  he 
made  his  first  step  upon  the  stony  bottom  of  the 
rapid  stream,  I  felt  certain  that  something  awful  was 
going  to  happen :  I  strove  to  get  down,  but  that  was 
unnecessary,  for  a  few  steps  farther  on  my  charger 
fell,  amid  the  loud  lau2;hter  of  our  comrades  standing 
upon  the  bank,  and  then  afterward,  in  great  conster- 
nation, he  made  for  the  opposite  bank,  as  I  wished 
him  to  do.  This  cold  morning  bath  in  the  clear  wa- 
ters of  the  transparent  crystal  Murgab  was  only  so 
far  disa2;reeable  to  me  that  I  had  no  change  of 
clothes,  so  I  was  obliged  to  hide  myself  a  few  hours 

*  The  Murgab  rises  in  the  lofty  mountains  to  the  east  which 
bear  the  name  of  Ghur ;  it  flows  in  a  northwesterly  direction  by 
Martchah  and  Pendjdeh  until  it  loses  itself  in  the  sandy  plain  of 
Merv.  It  is  j^retended  that  at  an  earlier  period  it  joined  the 
Oxus,  but  this  is  an  utter  impossibility. 


Chap.  XIII.         BALA  MURGAB— THE  DJEMSHIDI.  oQl 

among  some  carpets  and  sacks  until  my  clothes, 
which  were  entirely  wet  through,  should  dry  in  the 
sun.  The  caravan  encamped  near  the  citadel ;  in 
the  interior,  instead  of  houses  there  are  only  tents, 
and  there  the  khans  or  chiefs  of  the  Djemshidi  reside. 

This  part  of  the  valley  of  the  Murgab  bears  the 
^name  of  Bala  Murgab'"-'  (Upper  Murgab) ;  it  extends 
from  the  frontiers  of  the  lofty  mountainous  chain  of 
the  Hezares  as  far  as  Marchah  (snake  well),  where 
dwell  the  Salor  Turkomans ;  it  is  said  of  old  to  have 
been  a  possession  of  the  Djemshidi,  and  that  they 
were  for  a  time  disj^osessed,  but  afterward  returned. 
To  the  southwest  of  the  fortress  the  valley  becomes 
so  narrow  that  it  merits  rather  the  name  of  a  defile. 
Through  the  midst  the  Murgab  rolls  foaming  away 
with  the  noise  of  thunder ;  it  is  not  until  it  has 
passed  Pendjdeh,  where  the  river  becomes  deeper  and 
more  sedate,  that  the  valley  spreads  itself  out,  and 
acquires  a  breadth  of  one  or  two  miles.  When  Merv 
existed,  there  must  have  been  here,  too,  a  tolerable 
amount  of  civilization ;  but  at  the  present  day  Tur- 
komans house  themselves  there,  and  upon  their  steps 
follow  every  where  ruin  and  desolation. 

The  Djemshidi  insist  that  they  spring  from  Djeni- 
shid,  the  fabulous  king  of  the  Pishdadian  family — a 
pretension  naturally  subject  to  doubt!  They  are, 
however,  certainly  of  Persian  descent.  This  is  indi- 
cated not  so  much  by  their  dialect  as  by  their  pure 

*  Some  said  that  this  name  designates  merely  the  fortress.  It 
may  have  been  formerly  a  place  of  importance,  for  numerous 
ruins  in  the  interior  and  in  the  environs  indicate  a  by-gone  civil- 
ization. 


802  TRAVELS  IN  CENTR/iL  ASIA.  Ciiai-.  XIII. 

Irani  type  of  physiognomy,  for  it  is  retained  among 
these  nomads  more  faithfully  than  any  where  else, 
except  in  the  southern  provinces  of  Persia.  Cast  for 
centuries  upon  the  extreme  limit  of  Persian  nation- 
ality, their  numbers  have  melted  away  in  consequence 
of  constant  warfare.  The}^  count  now  no  more  than 
about  eight  or  nine  thousand  tents.  The  inhabitants 
live  in  a  state  of  great  destitution,  scattered  over  the 
above-named  valley  and  neighboring  mountains.  As 
will  be  seen  in  the  history  of  Khiva,  a  great  part  of 
them  were  forced  by  Allahkuli  Khan  to  quit  their 
country,  and  form  a  colony  in  that  khanat,  where  a 
new  place  of  settlement  was  marked  out  for  them  in 
a  fertile  district  (Koktcheg),  abundantly  watered  by 
the  Oxus.  The  change  was  for  the  better ;  but 
their  irresistible  attachment  to  their  old  mountain- 
ous homes  led  them  to  return  thither.     And  there 

r 

they  still  are  located  as  new  settlers,  under  no  very 
brilliant  circumstances. 

In  dress,  manner  of  life,  and  character,  the  Djem- 
shidi  resemble  the  Turkomans.  Their  forays  are 
just  as  much  dreaded  as  those  of  the  latter,  but  they 
can  not  be  so  frequent,  on  account  of  the  inferiority 
of  their  number.  At  present  their  khans  (they  have 
two,  Mehdi  Khan  and  Allahkuli  Khan)  are  notori- 
ously vassals  of  the  Afghans,  and  well  recompensed 
as  such  by  the  ^erdar  of  Herat.  The  Afghans,  even 
in  the  time  of  Dost  Mohammed  Khan,  took  every 
possible  step  to  win  to  their  side  the  Djemshidi,  in 
order,  in  the  first  place,  to  have  in  them  a  constant 
barrier-guard  on  the  northern  boundary  of  the  Mur- 
gab  against  the  incursions   of  the  Maymenes,  and. 


Chap.  XIII.  MEHDI  KHAN.— TAXES  AGAIN.  303 

secondly,  to  paralyze  the  power  of  the  Turkomans, 
of  whose  friendliness  the  greatest  sacrifices  never 
could  assure  Dost  Mohammed  Khati.  Mehdi  Khan, 
the  chief  of  the  Djemshidi,  of  whom  we  before  spoke, 
is  said,  at  the  siege  of  Herat,  to  have  rendered  essen- 
tial service,  and  to  have  consequently  gained  not  only 
the  entire  favor  of  the  late  emir,  bur  of  his  successor, 
the  present  king,  Shir  Ali  Khan.  Indeed,  the  latter 
left  him  guardian  of  his  infant  son,  whom  he  had 
placed  at  the  head  of  affairs  in  Herat.  The  exten- 
sion, then,  of  the  Afghan  territory  to  the  Murgab 
may  be  styled  very  precarious,  for  the  Djemshidi 
may,  at  any  moment,  break  out  in  open  revolt,  as 
they  do  not  admit  that  the  Serdar  of  Herat  has  the 
shadow  of  a  right  to  their  allegiance,  and,  least  of  all, 
should  there  be  any  hesitation  or  delay  in  the  liquid- 
ation of  their  pay. 

Here,  as  every  where,  our  difficulties  began  and 
ended  with  questions  respecting  the  customs.  'It  had 
been  said  all  along  that  with  the  left  bank  of  the 
Murgab  Afghanistan  began,  and  that  there  the  slave 
tax  would  cease  to  be  exacted.  It  was  a  grievous 
mistake.  The  Khan  of  the  Djemshidi,  who  treated 
in  person  with  the  kervanbashi  concerning  the  taxes, 
exacted  more  for  goods,  cattle,  and  slaves  than  the 
former  claimants,  and  when  the  tariff  was  made 
known,  the  consternation,  and  with  many  the  lamen- 
tation, knew  no  bounds.  He  even  forced  the  hadjis 
to  pay  two  francs  per  ass — an  extraordinary  charge 
for  all,  but  for  me  a  very  grievous  one.  But  the 
greatest  hardship  was  that  Avhich  befell  an  Indian, 
who  had  purchased  some  loads  of  aniseed  in  Maymene 


304  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap  XIU. 

for  thirty  tenghe.  The  carriage  to  Herat  cost  him 
twenty  tenghes  per  load.  He  had  also,  up  to  this 
point,  paid  eleven  tenghes  for  customs,  and  now  he 
was  to  pay  thirty  more,  making  for  expenses  about 
sixty-one  tenghes.  The  enormous  duties  imposed 
upon  the  merchant,  and  with  the  authority  of  a  sort 
of  law,  are  a  positive  hinderance  to  all  commercial 
transactions  ;  and  from  the  dreadfully  tyrannical  use 
made  of  their  power  by  the  princes,  the  inhabitants 
are  prevented  from  profiting  by  the  riches  of  nature 
that  often  ripen  without  any  culture  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, and  whose  produce  might  bring  a  very  good 
return,  and  satisfy  the  exigencies  of  domestic  life. 
The  mountainous  fatherland  of  the  Djemshidi  has 
three  special  kinds  of  produce  to  which  a  genial  Na- 
ture spontaneously  gives  birth,  and  which,  belonging 
to  no  one,  may  be  gathered  by  the  hand  of  the  first 
comer.  These  are,  (1.)  Pistachio  nuts;  (2.)  Buz- 
gundj,  a  sort  of  nut  used  for  dyeing :  it  is  a  produce 
of  the  pistachio-tree.  Of  the  former  a  batman  costs 
half  a  franc,  and  of  the  latter  from  six  to  eight  francs. 
(3.)  Terendjebin,  a  sort  of  sugary  substance  collected 
from  a  shrub  like  manna,  having  no  bad  flavor,  and 
used  in  the  making  of  sugar  in  Herat  and  Persia. 
The  mountain  Badkhiz  (the  word  means  "where  the 
wind  rises")  is  rich  in  those  three  articles.  The  in- 
habitants are  in  the  habit  of  collecting  them,  but  the 
merchants,  on  account  of  the  enormous  subsequent 
charges,  can  only  pay  a  small  sum  for  them,  and  they 
thus  afibrd  but  a  sorry  resource  for  the  poor  inhabit- 
ants. The  Djemshidi  women  make  several  kinds  of 
stuff  of  wool  and  goat's  hair,  and  particularly  a  sort 


CuAF.  XIII.        THE  MURGAB.— RUINS.— DERBEND.  305 

of  cloth  called  shal,  which  fetches  good  prices  in 
Persia. 

We  lingered  four  days  on  the  bank  of  the  Mur- 
gab,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  ruins.  Many  hours  did  I 
spend  in  wandering  by  the  side  of  this  beautiful  light 
green  river,  in  order  to  visit  the  tents  that  lay  scat- 
tered about  in  groups,  with  old  torn  pieces  of  felt  for 
coverings,  and  presenting  altogether  a  miserable  di- 
lapidated appearance.  In  vain  did  I  offer  my  glass 
beads,  in  vain  my  blessing  and  nefes.  Wliat  they 
stood  in  need  of  was  not  such  articles  of  luxury,  but 
bread.  Religion  itself  is  here  but  upon  a  feeble  foot- 
ing ;  and  as  I  could  not  much  build  upon  my  charac- 
ter as  hadji  and  dervish,  I  was  obliged  to  relinquish 
the  intention  of  a  more  extensive  excursion  to  Mar- 
chah,  where,  according  to  report,  there  exist  ruins  of 
stone,  with  munar  (towers  and  pillars)  perhaps  dating 
from  the  time  of  the  Parsees.  The  story  did  not 
seem  to  me  very  credible ;  otherwise  the  English, 
who  had  adequate  knowledge  of  Herat  and  its  envi- 
rons, would  have  made  researches.  In  the  uncertain-. 
ty,  I  did  not  care  to  expose  myself  to  danger. 

It  is  reckoned  a  four  days' journey  for  horses  from 
Bala  Murgab  to  Herat.  Camels  require  double  the 
time,  for  the  country  is  mountainous.  Our  camels 
could  not  certainly  perform  it  in  less,  for  they  carried 
loads  greater  than  usual. 

Two  high  mountainous  peaks,  visible  to  the  south 
of  Murgab,  were  pointed  out  to  us,  and  we  were  told 
that  it  would  take  us  two  days  to  reach  them.  They 
both  bear  the  name  Derbend  (pass),  and  are  far  loftier, 
narrower,  and  easier  of  defense  than  the  pass  on  the 

U 


306  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIIL 

right  bank  of  the  Murgab,  leading  to  Maymene.  In 
proportion  as  one  advances  nature  assumes  a  wilder 
and  more  romantic  appearance.  The  elevated  masses 
of  rock,  which  form  the  first  Derbend,  are  crowned 
with  the  ruins  of  an  ancient  fort,  the  subject  of  the 
most  varying  fables.  Farther  on,  at  the  second  Der- 
bend, on  the  bank  of  the  Murgab,  there  are  the  re- 
mains of  an  old  castle.  It  was  the  summer  residence 
of  the  renowned  Sultan  Husein  Mirza,  by  whose  or- 
der a  stone  bridge  (pul-taban)  was  constructed,  of 
which  traces  are  still  distinguishable.  In  the  time 
of  this,  the  most  civilized  sovereign  of  Central  Asia, 
the  whole  of  the  neighborhood  was  in  a  flourishing 
state,  and  many  pleasure-houses  are  said  to  have  ex- 
isted along  the  course  of  the  Murgab. 

Beyond  the  second  pass  we  quitted  the  Murgab. 
The  route  turned  to  the  right,  in  a  westerly  direction, 
toward  a  plateau  closely  adjoining  a  part  of  the  des- 
ert peopled  by  the  Salor.  Here  begins  the  lofty 
mountain  Telkhguzar,  which  it  takes  three  hours  to 
pass  over. 

Toward  midnight  we  halted  at  a  place  called  Mo- 
gor,  whence  next  morning  we  reached  the  ruins  of 
the  former  town  and  fortress,  Kale  No,  now  surround- 
ed by  a  few  tents  of  the  Hezare.  They  presented  the 
appearance  of  still  greater  poverty  than  those  of  the 
Djemshidi.  Kale  No,  as  I  heard,  had  been,  only  fifty 
years  ago,  a  flourishing  town.  It  had  served  for  a 
depot  to  the  caravans  betaking  themselves  from  Per- 
sia to  Bokhara.  The  Hezare,  the  then  possessors,  be- 
came overbearing  and  presumptuous,  claimed  to  give 
laws  to  Herat,  and  finally,  by  engaging  in  a  struggle 


Chap.  Xni.  THE  HEZARE.  307 

with  this  city,  became  the  authors  of  their  own  down- 
fall. They  even  made  enemies  of  the  Persians  by 
their  rivalry  with  the  Turkomans  in  their  predatory 
expeditions  in  Khorasan. 

The  Hezare  here  met  with  have,  owing  to  their 
intermixture  with  the  Irani,  no  longer  been  able  to 
maintain  their  Mongoli  type  as  pure  as  their  breth- 
ren in  Kabul.  They  are,  too,  for  the  most  part,  Sun- 
nites,  whereas  the  latter  profess  every  where  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  rival  sect  of  the  Shiites.  If  I  am  right- 
ly informed,  the  northern  Hezare  first  separated  them- 
selves from  the  southern  in  the  time  of  Nadir  Shah ; 
and  the  surrounding  people  forced  them  to  embrace 
the  doctrine  of  the  rival  sect  (Sunnites),  at  least  in 
part.  It  is  said  that  the  Hezare*  were  brought  by 
Djenghis  Khan  from  Mongolia,  their  ancient  seat,  to 
the  southern  parts  of  Central  Asia,  and  Shah  Abbas 
was  the  cause  of  their  conversion  to  Shiism.  It  is 
remarkable  that  they  have  exchanged  their  mother 
tongue  for  the  Persian,  which  is  not  generally  spoken 
in  the  neighborhood  where  they  dwell.  The  Mongol 
dialect,  or  rather  a  jargon  of  it,  is  only  preserved  by 
a  small  portion  of  them  who  have  remained  isolated 
in  the  mountains  near  Herat,  where  they  have  for 
centuries  been  occupied  as  burners  of  charcoal.    They 

*  The  Hezare  were  styled  Berber  in  Persia,  a  word  used  to 
designate  the  city  Shehri- Berber,  said  to  have  existed  on  the 
mountains  between  Kabul  and  Herat,  and  of  whose  ancient  gran- 
deur, splendor,  and  magnificence  wonders  are  recounted.  Burnes 
says,  in  his  work  upon  Kabul  (page  232),  that  "the  remains  of 
this  imperial  city  of  the  same  name  (Berber)  are  still  to  be 
seen." 


308  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIIL 

style  themselves,  as  well  as  the  place  they  inhabit, 
Gobi. 

Baba  Khan,  the  chief  of  the  Hezare  of  Kale  No, 
ought  at  least,  from  his  poverty  and  weakness,  to  ac- 
knowledge the  supremacy  of  Herat,  which  is  only  at 
a  distance  of  two  days'  journey.  This  was  not  the 
case ;  he  also  assumed  the  air  of  an  independent 
prince.  Hardly  had  our  caravan  settled  down  near 
the  ruins,  when  his  majesty  appeared  in  person  and 
demanded  his  customs :  this  gave  rise  to  fresh  quar- 
rels and  disputes.  The  kervanbashi  insisted  upon 
sending  an  express  to  the  Serdar  of  Herat  to  com- 
plain ;  the  threat  produced  its  effect,  and  instead  of 
duties  a  famous  sum  was  exacted  for  whip-money ; 
and  in  levying  it,  the  godless  khan  not  even  allowing 
the  hadjis  to  escape,  I  was  obliged  to  pay  again  for 
my  ass  the  sum  of  two  francs. 

The  merchants  made  here  a  large  purchase  of  pis- 
tachio nuts  and  berek,  a  light  cloth  for  the  fabrica- 
tion of  which  the  Hezare  women  are  renowned,  and 
is  employed  throughout  the  whole  of  the  north  of 
Persia  and  Afghanistan  as  an  over-garment,  called 
chekmen. 

From  Kale  No  the  way  again  passes  over  lofty 
mountains  to  Herat;  the  distance  is  only  twenty 
miles,  but  the  journey  is  very  fatiguing,  and  requires 
four  days  for  its  accomplishment.  The  first  day's 
halt  was  at  a  village  called  Alvar,  near  the  ruins  of 
the  robber  -  castle  where  Shir  Ali  Hezareh  housed 
himself  The  second  day  we  passed  by  the  summit 
Serabend,  covered  with  everlasting  snows,  and  where 
we  suffered  severely  from  frost,  in  spite  of  the  im- 


Chap.  XIII.    DANGEROUS  EOUTE.— DISAPPOINTMILNT.  309 

mense  masses  of  wood  which  we  lighted  to  warm  us. 
The  third  day  we  descended  continually :  there  are 
some  very  dangerous  places,  the  path  passing  close 
to  the  edge  of  the  precipice,  being  only  a  foot  broad ; 
a  false  step  may  plunge  man  and  camel  down  into 
the  ravine  below.  We  reached,  however,  without  ac- 
cident, the  valley  at  Sertcheshme,  whence,  it  is  be- 
lieved, springs  a  strong  stream,  that,  after  bathing 
Herat  on  the  north  side,  falls  into  the  Heri-Rud. 
On  the  fourth  day  we  arrived  at  Kerrukh,  which  be- 
longs to  Herat,  and  is  distant  from  it  four  miles. 

Herat  was  still  besieged  by  Dost  Mohammed  Khan 
when  the  caravan  had  set  out  for  Bokhara  in  the 
spring.  Six  months  had  now  elapsed;  the  report  of 
their  native  city  having  been  taken  and  plundered  had 
reached  them,  and  the  reader  may  imagine  the  anxi- 
ety felt  by  every  Herati  to  seek  his  house,  property, 
family,  and  friends !  Notwithstanding  this,  all  were 
forced  to  wait  here  another  day,  until  the  officer  of 
the  customs,  whose  appearance  on  the  scene,  with  his 
arrogant  Afghan  air,  took  us  early  in  the  morning 
by  surprise,  had  got  ready  an  exact  list  of  all  that 
had  come  and  every  thing  they  had  brought  with 
them.  I  had  pictured  to  myself  Afghanistan  as  a 
land  already  half  organized,  where,  through  long  con- 
tact with  Western  influence,  at  least  something  of 
order  and  civilization  had  been  introduced.  I  flat- 
tered myself  that  I  was  upon  the  eve  of  getting  rid 
at  once  of  my  disguise  and  suff*erings.  I  was  cruelly 
deceived.  The  Afghan  functionary,  the  first  whom 
I  had  yet  seen  of  that  nation,  threw  into  the  shade 
all  the  inhumanity  and  barbarity  of  similar  officers 


310  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIII. 

in  Central  Asia ;  all  the  dreadful  things  I  had  heard 
about  the  searches  as  to  customs  among  the  Afghans 
was  only  a  painting  "couleur  de  rose"  compared 
with  what  I  here  witnessed.  The  bales  of  goods 
that  owners  would  not  open  were  sent  under  guard 
to  the  town ;  the  baggage  of  the  travelers  was  exam- 
ined, and  written  down  article  by  article;  in  spite 
of  the  coldness  of  the  weather,  every  one  was  obliged 
to  strij),  and,  with  the  exception  of  shirt,  drawers, 
and  upper  garment,  every  object  of  dress  was  declared 
liable  to  duty.  The  brute  taxed  the  hadjis  most  se- 
verely ;  he  did  not  even  spare  their  little  stock  of 
haberdashery ;  and,  what  is  unheard  of,  he  exacted 
five  krans  per  head  for  the  asses,  animals  for  which 
so  much  had  been  already  paid  for  duty,  and  which 
were  themselves  worth  from  twenty  to  twenty-five 
krans.  As  many  were  really  so  poor  as  to  be  un- 
able to  pay,  he  caused  their  asses  to  be  sold :  this  re- 
volting proceeding  wrung  me  very  hard ;  it  left  me, 
in  fact,  almost  without  resources. 

Toward  evening,  when  we  thought  that  the  plun- 
dering was  over,  the  Governor  of  Kerrukh,  who  has 
the  rank  of  a  mejir,*  made  his  appearance  also  to  re- 
ceive his  whip-money.  He  was  somewhat  exacting 
too,  but  his  genuine  soldier-like  bearing,  and  his  uni- 
form buttoned  tight  over  his  chest  (the  first  object 
that  had  greeted  my  eyes  for  so  long  a  time  that  re- 

*  Mejir  corresponds  with  the  English  "  major,"  from  which  it 
is  borrowed.  I  devoted  much  attention  to  the  words  "  djornel" 
and  "  kornel"  used  by  the  Afghans  in  their  army,  until  it  at  last 
occurred  to  me  that  the  former  sprung  from  general,  and  the  lat- 
ter from  colonel. 


Chap.XIIL  BATOR  KHAN.— TRADE.  311 

called  European  associations),  produced  upon  me 
an  indescribably  cheering  impression.  Even  now  I 
laugh  at  the  pettiness  of  my  feelings,  but  I  could  not 
regard  with  indifference  the  end  of  the  entire  jest  of 
which  I  had  been  the  author.  Bator  Khan  (that 
was  his  name)  had  remarked  my  look  of  surprise. 
This  made  him  regard  me  more  attentively ;  he  was 
struck  by  my  foreign  features,  and  questioned  the  ker- 
vanbashi ;  directed  me  to  seat  myself  near  him,  and 
treated  me  with  affability  and  consideration.  In  the 
course  of  the  conversation,  which  he  continually  turn- 
ed upon  Bokhara,  he  laughed  in  my  face,  and  yet  so 
that  he  was  not  observed  by  others,  as  if  to  congrat- 
ulate me  upon  the  accomplishment  of  my  object,  for 
he  thought  that  I  had  been  sent  upon  a  mission ; 
and  although  I  persisted  in  supporting  the  character 
I  had  so  long  assumed,  he  extended  to  me  his  hand 
at  his  departure,  and  wished  to  shake  mine  a  VAn- 
glaise,  but,  seeing  his  design,  I  anticipated  him,  raised 
my  arms,  and  was  about  to  give  him  a  fatiha,  when 
he  withdrew  laughing. 

Next  morning  our  caravan  was  to  enter  Herat, 
having  spent  more  than  six  weeks  on  the  way  hith- 
er from  Bokhara,  a  journey  that  may  be  easily  ac- 
complished in  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  days. 

From  the  details  already  furnished,  it  is  apparent 
that  trade  on  this  route  is  not  in  a  very  splendid  con- 
dition. We  will  now  sum  up,  in  tenghe,  the  amount 
paid  altogether  for  slaves,  goods,  and  cattle  at  the 
different  places : 


312 


TKAVELS IN  CENTRAL  ASIA. 


Chap.  XIII. 


Paid  in  Tenghe  at  15  centimes  each. 


Name  of  the 
Place. 

Paid  for  Bales 
of  Goods. 

For  Camels. 

Horses. 

Asses. 

Slaves. 

Kerki     .     . 

20 

5 

3 

1 

22 

Andkhuy    . 

26 

5 

3 

2 

20 

Maymene   . 

28 

5 

3 

1 

25 

Almar    .     . 

— 

3 

2 

Fehm^uzar 

1 

3 

2 

1 

1 

Kale  Veli  . 

— 

5 

3 

1 

5 

Murgab 

30 

5 

3 

2 

15 

Kale  No     . 

— 

5 

3 

2 

Kerrukh     . 

— 

15 

10 

5 

i 

105 

51 

32 

15 

88 

When  we  say,  besides,  that  the  interest  of  money 
at  Herat  is  twenty  per  cent.,  we  may  form  an  idea 
of  what  the  selling  price  must  be  to  remunerate  the 
merchant  for  his  trouble ! 


CuA^^  XIV.  HEEAT.  313 


CHAPTEH  XIV. 


HERAT. 

HIiUAT. —  ITS    EDINOCS   STATE. — BAZAR. —  AUTHOR'S    DESTITUTE    CONDITION. — 

THE    SERDAR    MEHEMMED    YAKOUB    KHAN. PARADE    OF    AFGHAN   TROOPS. 

INTERVIEW    WITH    THE    SERDAR. CONDUCT   OP    AFGHANS    ON    STORMING    HE- 
RAT.— NAZIR    NAIM,  THE  VIZIR. EMBARRASSED    STATE    OF    THE    REVENUE. 

MAJOR    TODD. — MOSALLA,  AND    TOMB    OF    SULTAN    HUSEIN    MIRZA. TOMB    OF 

KHODJA   ABDULLAH   ANSARI   AND   OF   DOST   MOHAMMED   KHAN. 


""Evr«v0£V  "ApEia,  axoivot  /3'.  "Ev9a  KavSuK  iroXtg  ical  'ApraRavav  Kai 
'AXf^avSpiia  >)  tv  'Apeiotg-  KoJjiai  St  5'." — Isidori  Characeni,  Mansiones  Par- 
thiccB,  17,  apud  Mulkr.  Geograph.  Gr.  minores. 


The  traveler  approaching  from  the  north  will  cer- 
tainly be  surprised  when,  on  turning  round  the 
mountain  Khodja  Abdullah  Ansari,  he  sees  Ij'ing  be- 
fore him  the  beautiful  immense  plain  called  Djolghei 
Herat,  with  its  numerous  canals  and  scattered  groups 
of  villages.  Although  trees,  the  principal  ornament 
of  every  landscape,  are  here  entirely  wanting,  he  can 
not  but  be  convinced  that  he  has  reached  the  bounds 
of  Turkestan,  and  with  it  of  Central  Asia,  properly 
so  called ;  for  of  this  Herat  is  rightly  named  the 
gate,  or  key.  Without  going  so  far  as  the  Orientals 
in  styling  it  "  djennetsifaf'  (like  Paradise),  we  can 
not,  nevertheless,  deny  to  the  surrounding  country 
the  character  of  loveliness  and  of  fertility.  Its  nat- 
ural advantages,  united  with  its  political  importance, 
have  unhappily  made  it  an  apple  of  discord  to  ad- 


314  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIV. 

joining  nations,  and  when  we  consider  the  wars  that 
have  here  been  carried  on,  and  the  frequent  sieges 
that  the  city  has  had  to  support,  it  is  astonishing  to 
us  how  rapidly  the  wounds  inflicted  seem  to  have 
scarred  over.  Only  two  months  before  we  arrived, 
hordes  of  wild  Afghans  had  here  housed  themselves, 
scattering  desolation  and  devastation  in  every  direc- 
tion, and  yet,  even  now,  fields  and  vineyards  looked 
flourishing,  and  the  meadows  were  covered  with  high 
grass  mixed  with  flowers. 

Like  all  cities  in  the  East,  it  has  both  ancient  and 
modern  ruins ;  and  here,  as  every  where  else,  we 
must  pronounce  the  former  the  more  beautiful  and 
the  nobler.  The  remains  of  the  monuments  on  the 
Mosalla  (place  of  jorayer)  remind  us  of  the  ruins  of 
the  ancient  city  of  Timour ;  the  round  towers  lying 
scattered  singly  about  look  like  the  immediate  envi- 
rons of  Ispahan ;  but  the  city,  and  the  fortress  itself, 
in  the  state  in  which  I  saw  it,  form  a  ruin  such  as 
we  rarely  meet  with  even  in  the  East. 

We  entered  by  the  gate  Dervaze  Arak.  The 
houses  which  we  passed,  the  advanced  works,  the 
very  gate,  looked  like  a  heap  of  rubbish.  Near  the 
latter,  in  the  inside  of  the  city,  is  the  ark  (citadel), 
having,  from  its  elevation,  served  as  a  mark  for  the 
Afghan  artillery ;  it  lies  there  blasted  and  half  de- 
molished. The  doors  and  windows  have  been  strip- 
ped of  their  woodwork,  for  during  the  siege  the  in- 
habitants suffered  most  from  the  scarcity  of  fuel.  In 
the  bare  openings  of  the  walls  are  perched  here  and 
there  a  few  wretched-looking  Afghans  or  Hindoos — 
worthy  guards   of  such  a  ruin.     Each  step  we  ad- 


CiiAP.  XIV.  HERAT  UNDER  THE  AFGHANS.  315 

vance  we  see  greater  indications  of  devastation.  En- 
tire quarters  of  the  town  remain  solitary  and  aban- 
doned. The  bazar — that  is  to  say,  the  arched  part 
of  it,  where  the  quadrangle  of  the  bazar  is  united  by 
its  dome,  and  which  has  witnessed  and  resisted  so 
many  sieges — alone  remains,  and  affords,  in  spite  of 
its  new  population,  dating  only  from  three  months 
ago,  a  really  interesting  sample  of  Oriental  life — a 
blending  of  the  characteristics  of  India,  Persia,  and 
Central  Asia,  better  defined  than  even  in  the  bazar 
of  Bokhara.  It  is  only  from  the  caravanserai  Hadji 
Resul  to  that  of  No  that  a  throng,  rightly  so  called, 
exists  ;  and  although  the  distance  is  small,  the  eye  is 
bewildered  by  the  diversity  of  races — Afghans,  In- 
dians, Tartars,  Turkomans,  Persians,  and  Jews.  The 
Afghan  parades  about,  either  in  his  national  cos- 
tume, consisting  of  a  long  shirt,  drawers,  and  dirty 
linen  clothes,  or  in  his  military  undress  ;  and  here  his 
favorite  garment  is  the  red  English  coat,  from  which, 
even  in  sleep,  he  will  not  part.  He  throws  it  on 
over  his  shirt,  while  he  sets  on  his  head  the  pictur- 
esque In  do- Afghan  turban.  Others  again,  and  these 
are  the  beau  monde,  are  wont  to  assume  a  half  Per- 
sian costume.  Weapons  are  borne  by  all.  Karely 
does  any  one,  Avhether  civil  or  military,  enter  the  ba- 
zar without  his  sword  and  shield.  To  be  quite  a  la 
mode,  one  must  carry  about  one  quite  an  arsenal,  con- 
sisting of  two  pistols,  a  sword,  poniard,  handjar,  gun, 
and  shield.  With  the  wild,  martial-looking  Afghan 
we  can  only  compare  the  Turkomanlike  Djemshidi. 
The  wretchedly-dressed  Herati,  the  naked  Hezare,  the 
Teymuri   of  the  vicinity,  are   overlooked  when  the 


816  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIV. 

Afghan  is  present.  He  encounters  around  him  noth- 
ing but  abject  humility  ;  but  never  was  ruler  or  con- 
queror so  detested  as  is  the  Afghan  by  the  Herati. 

The  bazar  itself,  dating  from  Herat's  epoch  of 
splendor,  the  reign  of  the  Sultan  Husein  Mirza,  and 
consequently  about  four  hundred  years  old,  deserved 
still,  even  in  its  ruins,  the  epithet  beautiful.  It  is 
said,  in  earlier  times,  to  have  formed  an  entire  street, 
from  the  Dervaze  Arak  to  the  Dervaze  Kandahar.''' 
Of  course,  at  present,  the  shops  in  the  bazar  begin  to 
open  again,  but  only  by  degrees.  The  last  siege  and 
plundering  of  the  city  could  not  fail  to  prove  a  great 
discourager.  Indeed,  under  the  rapacious  system  of 
duties  introduced  by  the  Afghans,  trade  and  manu- 
facture have  little  prosperity  opened  to  them ;  for  it 
is  extraordinary,  indeed  incredible,  what  taxes  are  ex- 
torted from  both  seller  and  purchaser,  upon  every  ar- 
ticle that  is  sold.  They  seem,  besides,  to  be  regulated 
by  no  fixed  scale,  but  to  be  quite  arbitrary.  One  has 
to  pay  a  duty,  for  instance,  for  a  pair  of  boots  that 
has  cost  originally  five  francs,  one  and  a  half  francs; 
for  a  cap,  worth  two  francs,  one  franc ;  for  a  fur  that 
has  been  purchased  for  eight  francs,  three  francs ; 
and  so  on.  Every  article  imported  or  exported  is 
stamped  by  tax-collectors,  having  oflEices  in  the  bazar 
and  in  different  parts  of  the  city. 

The  original  inhabitants  of  the  city  were  Persians, 

*  Unlike  the  other  gates,  this  one  suffered  little  during  the 
siege.  The  Herati  pretend  that  it  can  never  be  demolished,  be- 
cause built  by  the  English,  who  lay  brick  over  brick  only  as 
justice  directs,  unlike  the  Afghans,  who  mix  the  mortar  with 
the  tears  of  oppression. 


Chap.  XIV.  INHABITANTS  OF  HERAT.  317 

and  belonging  to  the  race  that  spread  itself  from  Sis- 
tan  toward  the  northeast,  and  formed  the  ancient 
province  of  Khorasan,  of  which,  until  recent  days, 
that  remained  the  cajDital.  In  later  times,  the  immi- 
grations, of  which  Djenghis  and  Timour  were  the 
cause,  led  to  the  infusion  of  Turco-Tartaric  blood  into 
the  veins  of  the  ancient  population.  The  collective 
name  Char-Aimak  is  the  result,  as  well  as  the  sub- 
division of  the  people  into  the  Djemshidi,  Firuzkuhi, 
Teimeni  or  Timouri.  These  are  races  of  different 
origin,  and  can  only  from  a  political  point  of  view 
be  regarded  as  one  single  nation.  Thus  far  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Djolghei  Herat. 

The  fortress  itself  is  inhabited,  for  the  most  part, 
by  Persians,  who  settled  here  in  the  last  century,  to 
maintain  and  spread  the  influence  of  their  own  coun- 
try. They  are  now  principally  handicraftsmen  or 
merchants.  As  for  Afghans,  one  can  not  find  in  the 
city  more  than  one  in  five.  They  have  become  quite 
Persians,  and  are,  particularly  since  the  last  siege, 
very  hostile  to  their  own  countrymen.  A  Kabuli, 
or  a  Kaker  from  Kandahar,  is  as  much  regarded  by 
him  in  the  light  of  an  oppressor,  and  therefore  is  as 
much  detested,  as  by  the  aboriginal  natives  of  Herat. 

The  diversified  throngs  I  encountered  in  Herat 
produced  a  pleasing  effect  upon  me.  The  Afghan 
soldiery  in  the  English  i^niform,  with  shako — a  cov- 
ering for  the  head  contrary  to  the  prescriptions  of 
the  Koran,  and  the  introduction  of  which  into  the 
Turkish  army  is  regarded  as  impracticable''' — seemed 

*  The  Osmanli  insist  that,  according  to  the  Sunnet  (tradition), 
siper  (a  head-covering  with  a  peak)  and  zunnar  (the  cord  round 


318  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIV. 

to  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  I  had  fallen  upon  a 
land  where  Islamite  fanaticism  had  lost  its  formida- 
ble character,  and  where  I  might  gradually  discon- 
tinue my  disguise.  And  when  I  saw  many  soldiers 
moving  about  with  mustaches  shaved  off,  and  wear- 
ing whiskers — an  appendage  regarded  as  a  deadly 
sin  in  Islam,  and  even  in  Constantinople  as  a  renun- 
ciation of  their  religion — the  hope  seized  me  that 
perhaps  I  might  meet  here  English  officers ;  and  how 
happy  I  should  have  considered  myself  to  have  found 
some  son  of  Britain,  whose  influence,  without  doubt, 
from  political  circumstances,  would  have  been  very 
great.  I  had,  for  the  moment,  forgotten  that  the 
Oriental  is  never  what  he  seems,  and  my  disappointr 
ment  was  indeed  bitter. 

As  I  before  remarked,  my  finances  had  melted  away 
positively  to  nothing.  I  was  obliged,  on  entering 
Herat,  to  sell  at  once  even  the  ass  upon  which  I  rode. 
The  poor  brute,  being  quite  worn  out  with  his  jour- 
ney, brought  me  only  twenty-six  krans,  out  of  which 
I  was  obliged  to  pay  the  tax  upon  the  sale,  and  other 
little  debts.  The  state  in  which  I  found  myself  was 
very  critical.  The  want  of  bread  admitted  of  rem- 
edy ;  but  the  nights  had  become  quite  cold,  and,  in 
spite  of  my  being  inured  to  a  life  of  hardship,  my  suf- 

the  loins  of  monks)  are  most  rigorously  forbidden  as  signs  of 
Christianity.  Sultan  Mahmoud  II.,  on  introducing  into  Turkey 
for  the  first  time  a  militia  formed  on  the  model  of  the  European, 
was  very  desirous  of  substituting  the  shako  for  the  highly  inap- 
propriate fez,  but  the  destroyer  of  the  Janissaries  did  not  ven- 
ture to  carry  his  wish  into  execution,  for  he  would  have  been 
declared  an  apostate  even  by  his  best  friends. 


Chap.  XIV.  SERDAR  OF  HERAT.  319 

ferings  were  great  when  I  slept  in  an  open  ruin,  with 
scanty  clothing,  and  on  the  bare  earth.  The  thought 
that  Persia  might  be  reached  in  ten  days  cheered  me 
up.  Still,  it  was  not  so  easy  an  enterprise  to  arrive 
thither.  To  go  alone  was  impossible,  and  the  cara- 
van, preparing  to  go  to  Meshed,  wished  to  wait  still 
for  an  increase  of  travelers  and  a  more  favorable  op- 
portunity ;  for  the  Tekke  Turkomans  not  only  ren- 
dered the  journey  exceedingly  unsafe,  but  plundered 
villages  and  caravans,  and  carried  off  captives  before 
the  very  gates  of  Herat.  During  the  first  days  of 
my  arrival  I  heard  that  a  Persian  envoy,  named  Me- 
hemmed  Bakir  Khan,  sent  by  the  Governor  Prince 
of  Khorasan  to  congratulate  the  young  Serdar  of 
Herat,  proposed  soon  to  return  to  Teheran.  I  im- 
mediately waited  upon  him,  and  begged  him  to  take 
me  with  him.  The  Persian  was  very  polite;  but, 
although  I  repeated  to  him  over  and  over  again  the 
state  of  destitution  in  which  I  Avas,  he  paid  no  atten- 
tion to  that  statement,  and  asked  me  (the  dreadfully 
disfigured  hadji)  if  I  had  brought  back  with  me  any 
fine  horses  from  Bokhara !  Every  word  of  his  seem- 
ed to  indicate  a  wish  on  his  part  to  penetrate  my  se- 
cret. Seeing  that  I  had  nothing  to  expect,  I  left 
him.  He  quitted  Herat  soon  after,  accompanied  by 
many  of  the  hadjis  who  had  traveled  with  me  from 
Samarcand  and  Kerki.  All  abandoned  me — all  but 
Mollah  Ishak,  my  faithful  companion  from  Kungrat, 
who  had  believed  when  I  said  that  in  Teheran  better 
fortunes  awaited  me,  and  who  stood  by  me.  The 
honest  young  man  obtained  our  daily  food  and  fuel 
by  begging,  and  got  ready,  besides,  our  evening  sup- 


320  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIV. 

per,  which  he  even  refused  respectfully  to  share  with 
me  out  of  the  same  plate.  Mollah  Ishak  forms,  in 
another  point  of  view,  one  of  the  most  interesting  of 
my  episodes.  He  lives  now,  at  this  day,  in  Pesth, 
instead  of  being  at  Mecca,  and  in  the  sequel  of  my 
narrative  we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  of  him. 

Not  to  neglect  any  expedient  to  forward  my  jour- 
ney on  to  Meshed,  I  went  to  the  reigning  prince, 
Serdar  Mehemmed  Yakoub  Khan,  son  of  the  present 
King  of  Afghanistan,  a  lad  in  his  sixteenth  year,  who 
had  been  placed  at  the  head  of  affairs  in  the  con- 
quered province,  his  father,  immediately  after  his  ac- 
cession to  the  throne,  having  been  obliged  to  hasten 
away  to  Kabul,  in  order  to  prevent  any  steps  being 
taken  by  his  brothers  to  contest  the  throne  with  him. 
The  young  prince  resided  in  the  charbag,  in  the  pal- 
ace which  had  also  served  for  the  dwelling  of  Major 
Todd.  It  had,  it  is  true,  suffered  much  during  the 
siege,  but  was  naturally  preferred,  as  a  residence,  to 
the  citadel,  which  was  a  mere  ruin.  One  part  of 
that  quadrangular  court,  a  garden  as  they  were  in  the 
habit  of  calling  it,  although  I  saw  in  it  only  a  few 
trees,  served  as  night  quarters  for  him  and  his  nu- 
merous retinue,  while  in  the  portions  situate  on  the 
opposite  side  an  arz  (public  audience)  of  four  or  five 
hours'  duration  was  held  in  a  large  long  hall.  The 
prince  was  generally  seated  at  the  window  in  an  arm- 
chair, dressed  in  military  uniform,  with  high  collar ; 
and  as  the  numerous  petitioners,  whom  he  was  obliged 
officially  to  receive,  very  much  wearied  him,  he  made 
the  Risale  Company  (the  elite  of  the  Afghan  troops) 
exercise  before  his  window,  and  seemed  highly  de- 


Chap.  XIV.  INTERVIEW  WITH  THE  SERDAR.  321 

lighted  with  the  wheeling  of  the  columns,  and  the 
thundering  word  of  command  of  the  officer  passing 
them  in  review,  who,  besides,  pronounced  the  "Right 
shoulder  forward!  Left  shoulder  forward !"  with  a 
genuine  English  accent. 

When  I  stepped  into  the  court  I  have  mentioned, 
accompanied  by  Mollah  Ishak,  the  drill  was  at  its 
most  interesting  point.  The  men  had  a  very  mili- 
tary bearing,  far  better  than  the  Ottoman  army,  that 
was  so  drilled  forty  years  ago.  These  might  have 
been  mistaken  for  European  troops  if  most  of  them 
had  not  had  on  their  bare  feet  the  pointed  Kabuli 
shoe,  and  had  not  had  their  short  trowsers  so  tightly 
stretched  by  their  straps  that  they  threatened  every 
moment  to  burst  and  fly  up  above  the  knee.  After 
having  watched  the  exercises  a  short  time  I  went  to 
the  door  of  the  reception-hall,  which  was  filled  by  a 
number  of  servants,  soldiers,  and  petitioners.  If  all 
made  way  for  me,  and  allowed  me  undisturbed  to  en- 
ter the  saloon,  I  had  to  thank  the  large  turban  I  had 
assumed  (my  companion  had  assumed  a  similar  one), 
as  well  as  the  "anchorite"  appearance  which  my 
wearisome  journey  had  imparted.  I  saw  the  prince 
as  I  have  described ;  on  his  right  hand  sat  his  vizir, 
and  next  to  him  there  were  ranged  along  against  the 
wall  other  officers,  moUahs,  and  Heratis ;  among 
these  there  was  also  a  Persian,  Imamverdi  Khan, 
who,  on  account  of  some  roguery,  had  fled  hither 
from  (Djam)  Meshed.  Before  the  prince  stood  his 
keeper  of  the  seal  (mohiirdar),  and  four  or  five  other 
servants.  True  to  my  dervish  character,  on  appear- 
ing I  made  the  usual  salutation,  and  occasioned  no 

X 


322  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIV. 

surprise  to  the  company  when  I  stepped,  even  as  I 
made  it,  right  up  to  the  prince,  and  seated  myself  be- 
tween him  and  the  vizir,  after  having  required  the 
latter,  a  corpulent  Afghan,  to  make  room  for  me  by 
a  push  with  the  foot.  This  action  of  mine  occasion- 
ed some  laughing,  but  it  did  not  put  me  out  of  coun- 
tenance. I  raised  my  hands  to  repeat  the  usual 
prayer  required  by  the  law.*  While  I  was  repeating 
it,  the  prince  looked  me  full  in  the  face.  I  saw  his 
look  of  amazement,  and  when  I  was  repeating  the 
Amen,  and  all  present  were  keeping  time  with  me  in 
stroking  their  beards,  the  prince  half  rose  from  his 
chair,  and,  pointing  with  his  finger  to  me,  he  called 
out,  half  laughing  and  half  bewildered,  "Vallahi, 
Billahi  Schuma,  Inghiliz  hestid !''  ("  By  G — ,  I  swear 
you  are  an  Englishman ! ") 

A  ringing  peal  of  laughter  followed  the  sudden 
fancy  of  the  young  king's  son,  but  he  did  not  suffer 
it  to  divert  him  from  his  idea ;  he  sprang  down  from 
his  seat,  placed  himself  right  before  me,  and,  clap- 
ping both  his  hands  like  a  child  who  has  made  some 
lucky  discovery,  he  called  out,  "Hadji,  kurbunet"  ("I 
would  be  thy  victim"),  "tell  me,  you  are  an  English- 
man in  tebdil  (disguise),  are  you  not?"  His  action 
was  so  naive  that  I  was  really  sorry  that  I  could  not 
leave  the  boy  in  his  illusion.  I  had  cause  to  dread 
the  wild  fanaticism  of  the  Afghans,  and,  assuming  a  / 
manner  as  if  the  jest  had  gone  too  far,  I  said,  "  Sahib 
mekun"  ("have  done") ;  "you  know  the  saying,  'He 

*  This  is  in  Arabic,  and  to  the  following  effect :  "  God  our 
Lord,  let  us  take  a  blessed  place,  for  of  a  verity  Thou  art  the  best 
quarter-master." 


324:  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIV. 

who  takes,  even  in  sport,  the  believer  for  an  unbe- 
liever, is  himself  an  unbeliever.'*  Give  me  rather 
something  for  my  fatiha,  that  I  may  proceed  farther 
on  my  journey."  My  serious  look,  and  the  hadis 
which  I  recited,  quite  disconcerted  the  young  man ; 
he  sat  down  half  ashamed,  and,  excusing  himself  on 
the  ground  of  the  resemblance  of  my  features,  said 
that  he  had  never  seen  a  hadji  from  Bokhara  with 
such  a  physiognomy.  I  replied  that  I  was  not  a 
Bokhariot,  but  a  Stambuli ;  and  when  I  showed  him 
my  Turkish  passport,  and  spoke  to  him  of  his  cousin, 
the  son  of  Akbar  Khan,  Djelal-ed-din  Khan,  who  was 
in  Mecca  and  Constantinople  in  1860,  and  had  met 
with  a  distinguished  reception  from  the  sultan,  his 
manner  quite  changed ;  my  passport  went  the  round 
of  the  company,  and  met  with  approbation.  The 
prince  gave  me  some  krans,  and  dismissed  me  with 
the  order  that  I  should  often  visit  him  during  my 
stay,  which  I  accordingly  did. 

However  fortunate  the  issue  of  this  amusing  pro- 
ceeding, it  had  still  some  consequences  not  very  agree- 
able, as  far  as  my  continued  stay  in  Herat  was  con- 
cerned. Following  the  prince's  example,  every  one 
wanted  to  detect  in  me  the  Englishman.  Persians, 
Afghans,  and  Herati  came  to  me  with  the  express 
purpose  of  convincing  themselves  and  verifying  their 
suspicions.  The  most  boring  fellow  was  a  certain 
Hadji  Sheikh  Mehemmed,  an  old  man  rejoicing  in 
the  reputation  of  being  a  great  astrologer  and  astron- 
omer, and  really,  as  far  as  opportunity  enabled  me  to 
judge,  one  well  read  in  Arabic  and  Persian.  He  in- 
*  Traditional  sentence  of  the  Prophet. 


Chap.  XIV.  CAPTURE  OF  HERAT.  325 

formed  me  that  he  had  traveled  with  Mons.  de  Khan- 
ikoff,  and  had  been  of  much  service  to  him  in  Herat, 
and  that  the  latter  had  given  him  a  letter  to  the 
Russian  embassador  in  Teheran,  of  which  he  wished 
me  to  take  charge.  In  vain  did  I  try  to  persuade 
the  fijood  old  man  that  I  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
Russians ;  he  left  me  with  his  convictions  unshaken. 
But  what  was  most  droll  was  the  conduct  of  the  Af- 
ghans and  Persians ;  they  thought  they  saw  in  me  a 
man  a  la  Eldred  Pottinger,  who  made  his  first  entry 
into  Herat  disguised  as  a  horse-dealer,  and  became 
later  its  master.  They  insisted  that  I  had  a  credit 
here  for  hundreds,  even  thousands  of  ducats,  and  yet 
no  one  would  give  me  a  few  krans  to  purchase  bread! 
Ah !  how  long  the  time  seemed  that  I  had  to  pass 
in  Herat  waiting  for  the  caravan !  The  city  had  a 
most  gloomy,  troubled  aspect ;  the  dread  of  their  sav- 
age conqueror  was  painted  on  the  features  of  its  in- 
habitants. The  incidents  of  the  last  siege,  its  capture 
and  plundering,  formed  the  constant  subjects  of  con- 
versation. According  to  the  assertions  of  the  He- 
rati  (which  are,  however,  not  founded  in  fact).  Dost 
Mohammed  Khan  took  the  fortress,  not  by  the  brave- 
ry of  the  Kabuli,  but  by  the  treason  of  the  garrison ; 
they  insist,  too,  that  the  beloved  prince  Sultan  Ahmed 
was  poisoned,  and  that  his  son  Shanauvaz,  who  is  al- 
most deified  by  the  Herati,  did  not  obtain  informa- 
tion of  the  treachery  before  a  great  part  of  tlie  j^altan 
(soldiers)  had  already  forced  their  way  into  the  for- 
tress. The  struggle  carried  on  by  the  besieged  prince 
with  his  angry  father-in-law  was  of  the  bitterest  de- 
scription, the    sufferings   borne    and  inflicted   were 


326  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap,  XIV. 

dreadful,  but  worst  of  all  were  the  sacking  and  plun- 
dering that  took  place  unexpectedly  some  days  after 
the  actual  capture,  when  many  fugitive  Herati  re- 
turned with  their  property  into  the  city.  Four  thou- 
sand Afghan  soldiers,  chosen  expressly  for  the  pur- 
pose from  different  tribes  and  regiments,  rushed  at  a 
given  signal,  and  from  different  sides  of  the  city,  upon 
the  defenseless  habitations,  and  are  said  not  only  to 
have  carried  off  clothing,  arms,  furniture — whatever, 
in  fact,  met  their  eye,  but  forced  every  one  to  strip 
himself  almost  to  a  state  of  nudity,  and  to  have  left 
the  half-naked  tenants  behind  them  in  their  thorough- 
ly  denuded  and  emptied  houses.  They  tore  away 
even  from  the  sick  their  bedding  and  clothing,  and 
robbed  infants  of  cradles,  nay,  of  the  very  swathing- 
clothes,  valueless  but  to  them !  A  mollah,  who  had 
been  robbed  of  all  his  books,  told  me  that  he  had  lost 
sixty  of  the  finest  MSS. ;  but  the  loss  he  most  de- 
plored was  that  of  a  Koran  bequeathed  to  him  by  his 
grandfather.  He  entreated  the  plunderer  to  leave 
him  this  one  book,  from  which  he  promised  that  he 
would  pray  for  his  despoiler.  "Do  not  trouble  thy- 
self," said  the  Kabuli ;  "  I  have  a  little  son  at  home 
who  shall  pray  for  thee  from  it.  Come,  give  it  me." 
Whoever  is  acquainted  with  the  covetousness  of 
the  filthy,  grasping  Afghan,  may  picture  to  himself 
how  he  would  behave  in  plundering  a  city.  The  be- 
siegers levied  contributions  upon  the  city  during  a 
day,  upon  the  country  around  during  months.  These 
are,  indeed,  natural  consequences  of  war,  occurring 
even  in  civilized  countries,  and  which  we  will  not 
make  the  subject  of  excessive  reproach  against  the 


Chap.  XIV.  HERAT.— NAZIR  NAIM.  327 

Afghans.  But  it  is  a  pity  that,  instead  of  seeking  to 
heal  the  wounds  which  they  have  inflicted,  their  mis- 
erable policy  seems  now  to  aim  at  reducing  the  whole 
province  still  farther  to  beggary ;  so  that  in  a  coun- 
try where  undoubtedly  they  are  called  upon  to  play 
an  important  part,  they  have  rendered  themselves 
objects  of  detestation,  for  the  inhabitants  would  at 
once  again  plunge  into  a  hopeless  contest  rather  than 
ever  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  the  Afghans. 
Herat,  that  is  said  now  again  to  show  signs  of  fresh 
life,  has  been  left  in  the  hands  of  a  good-humored  in- 
experienced child.  His  guardian,  the  Khan  of  the 
Djemshidi,  has  an  understanding  with  the  Turko- 
mans, against  whose  incursions  he  ought  to  protect 
the  country.  The  alamans  extend  their  depredations 
to  within  a  few  leagues  of  Herat ;  scarcely  does  any 
week  elapse  without  villages  being  surprised  and 
plundered,  and  the  inhabitants  being  led  away  to  cap- 
tivity. The  vizir  of  the  prince,  named  Nazir  Naim, 
is  a  man  whose  coarse  features  are,  as  it  were,  the 
sign-post  of  stupidity ;  he  has  in  the  course  of  only 
two  months  so  enriched  himself  that  he  has  pur- 
chased for  himself  in  Kabul  two  houses  with  vine- 
yards. As  the  internal  affairs  of  the  city  and  prov- 
ince are  left  in  his  hands,  he  is  accustomed,  during 
the  whole  time  of  his  hours  of  business,  to  surround 
himself  with  litigants  and  place-hunters.  He  soon 
tires,  and  when  questions  or  petitions  are  addressed 
to  him  respecting  the  government  recently  establish- 
ed, to  get  rid  of  the  wearisome  application  he  has 
ever  ready  the  stereotyped  answer,  "Her  tchi  pish 
bud"'  (Every  thing  as  before).     In  his  absence  of  mind 


328  TEAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIV. 

he  returns  the  same  answer  when  accusations  are 
laid  before  him  of  murder  or  theft ;  the  plaintiff, 
surprised,  repeats  his  story,  but  obtains  the  eternal 
answer,  "Her  tchi  pish  bud,"  and  so  he  must  retire. 
A  striking  proof  of  the  confusion  that  pervades 
every  thing  is  the  circumstance. that,  in  spite  of  un- 
heard-of duties,  in  spite  of  endless  imposts,  the  young 
serdar  can  not  raise  out  of  the  revenues  of  the  prov- 
ince of  Herat  a  sum  sufficient  to  defray  the  expenses 
of  the  civil  functionaries  and  the  garrison  of  fourteen 
hundred  men.  Mr.  Eastwick*  reports,  according  to 
a  statement  made  by  the  prince  governor  of  the  prov- 
ince of  Khorasan,  that  the  income  of  Herat  amounts 
yearly  to  80,000  toman  (£38,000),  but  from  this  sum 
are  to  be  maintained,  besides  the  corps  of  civilians, 
five  regiments  of  infantry,  and  about  4000  cavalry, 
for  which  purpose  the  amount  given  is  clearly  insuf- 
ficient. With  a  larger  income,  Herat  of  the  present 
day  has  far  fewer  expenses  ;  the  terrified  city  is  easi- 
ly governed ;  and  it  can  only  be  ascribed  to  malad- 
ministration that  a  subvention  is  required  from  Ka- 
bul to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  troops.  Had  Dost 
Mohammed  only  lived  a  year  longer  to  consolidate 
the  government  of  the  newly-conquered  province,  the 
incorporation  of  Herat  with  Afghanistan  might  have 
been  possible.  As  it  is,  fear  alone  keeps  things  to- 
gether. It  needs  only  some  attack,  no  matter  by 
whom,  to  be  made  upon  Herat,  for  the  Herati  to ''be 
the  first  to  take  up  arms  against  the  Afghans.  Nor 
does  this  observation  apply  to  the  Shiite  inhabitants 

*  "  Journal  of  a  Diplomate's  Three  Years'  Residence  in  Per- 
sia," vol.  ii.,  p.  244. 


Chap.  XIV.  EXCURSION  TO  GAZERGHIAII.  329 

alone,  whose  sympathies  are,  of  course,  in  favor  of 
Persia,  biit  even  to  those  of  the  Sunnite  persuasion, 
who  would  certainly  prefer  the  Kizilbash  to  their 
present  oppressors ;  but  I  find  no  exaggeration  in 
the  opinion  that  they  long  most  for  the  intervention 
of  the  English,  whose  feelings  of  humanity  and  jus- 
tice have  led  the  inhabitants  to  forget  the  great  dif- 
ferences in  religion  and  nationality.  The  Herati 
saw,  during  the  government  of  Major  Todd,  more 
earnestness  and  self-sacrifice  with  respect  to  the  ran- 
soming of  the  slaves'''  than  they  had  ever  even  heard 
of  before  on  the  part  of  a  ruler.  Their  native  gov- 
ernments had  habituated  them  to  be  plundered  and 
murdered,  not  spared  or  rewarded. 

Two  days  before  my  departure  I  suffered  an  Af- 
ghan to  persuade  me  to  make  an  excursion  to  a  vil- 
lage in  the  vicinity  named  Gazerghiah,  to  pay  a  visit 
there  to  the  tombs  of  Khodja  Abdullah  Ansari  and 
of  Dost  Mohammed  Khan,  in  order,  as  it  is  said,  to 
kill  two  flies  with  one  blow.  On  the  way  I  paid  my 
parting  visit  to  the  fine  ruins  of  Mosalla.  The  re- 
mains of  the  mosque  and  of  the  sepulchre,  which  the 
great  Sultan  Husein  Mirza  caused  to  be  built  for 
himself  ten  years  before  his  death  (901),  are,  as  I  be- 
fore mentioned,  an  imitation  of  the  monuments  of 
Samarcand.f     Time  would  have  long  spared  these 

*  The  report  is  general  in  Herat  that  Stoddart  was  sent  on  a 
mission  to  Bokhara  to  ransom  the  Herati  there  pining  in  cap- 
tivity. 

f  The  sepulchre  particularly  has  much  resemblance  to  that  of 
Timour.  The  decorations  and  inscriptions  upon  the  tomb  are 
of  the  most  masterly  sculpture  it  is  possible  to  conceive.  Many 
stones  have  three  inscriptions  carved  out,  one  above  the  other, 


330  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIV 

works  of  art,  but  they  suffered  shamefully  during  the 
last  two  sieges,  when  the  place  became  the  quarters 
of  Shiite  fanaticism.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  Eu- 
ropean officers  like  General  Borowsky  and  General 
Biihler — the  former  a  Pole,  the  latter  an  Alsatian, 
and  both  present  in  these  campaigns — could  not  in- 
terfere to  prevent  such  acts  of  Vandalism.  Gazer- 
ghiah  itself,  at  a  league's  distance  from  Herat,  and 
visible,  by  its  position  on  a  hill,  from  that  city,  has 
many  monuments  of  interest  in  sculpture  and  archi- 
tecture. They  date  from  the  epoch  of  Shahrookh 
Mirza,  a  son  of  Timour,  and  have  been  described  at 
large  by  Ferrier,  but  with  some  slight  mistakes, 
which  one  readily  excuses  in  an  officer  who  travels. 
The  name  of  the  saint  at  Gazerghiah,  for  instance,  is 
Khodja  Abdullah  Ansari — the  latter  word  signifying 
that  he  was  an  Arab,  and  of  the  tribe  that  shared 
the  hidjra  (flight)  with  the  Prophet.  More  than  six 
hundred  years  ago  he  passed  from  Bagdad  to  Merv, 
thence  to  Herat,  where  he  died,  and  was  declared  a 
saint.  He  now  stands  in  high  repute  as  patron  of 
both  city  and  province.  Dost  Mohammed  Khan  di- 
rected himself  to  be  buried  at  the  feet  of  Khodja  Ab- 
dullah Ansari,  at  once  flattering  the  ^^rejudices  of  his 
countrymen  and  offending  those  of  his  enemies.  The 
grave,  which  lies  between  the  walls  of  the  adjoining 
edifice  and  the  sepulchre  of  the  Khodja,  had,  when  I 
saw  it,  no  decoration,  and  not  even  a  stone,  for  his 
son  and  successor  preferred  first  to  lay  the  founda- 
tion of  his  inheritance  before  completing  the  tomb  of 

in  the  finest  Sulus  writing,  the  upper  line,  the  middle  one,  and 
lower  one  forming:  different  verses. 


Chap.  XIV.         DOST  MOHAMMED  KHAN'S  GRAVE.  331 

him  who  had  bequeathed  it  to  him.  This  does  not, 
however,  prevent  the  Afghans  from  performing  their 
reverential  pilgrimages.  The  saint  will,  before  long, 
be  thrown  into  the  shade  by  liis  mighty  rival ;  and 
yet  he  has  but  his  deserts,  for  he  is  probably  one  of 
the  numerous  Arabian  vagabonds,  but  Dost  Moham- 
med Khan  was  the  founder  of  the  Afghan  nation. 


332  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Cqap.  XV. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

PROM   HERAT   TO    LONDON. 

AUTHOR    JOINS    A    CARAVAN    FOR    MESHED. — KUHSUN,    LAST    AFGHAN   TOWN. — 

FALSE    ALARM    FROM  WILD  ASSES. DEBATABLE    GROUND    BETWEEN    AFGHAN 

AND  PERSIAN  TERRITORY. —  BIFURCATION  OF  ROUTE. — YUSUF  KHAN  HEZA- 
REH. —  FERIMON.  —  COLONEL  DOLMAGE.  —  PRINCE  SULTAN  MURAD  MIRZA. — 
AUTHOR  AVOWS  WHO  HE  IS  TO  THE  SERDAR  OF  HERAT. — SHAHRCD. TE- 
HERAN, AND  WELCOME  THERE  BY  THE  TURKISH  CHARGE  D'AFFAIRES,  IS- 
MAEL  EFFENDI. KIND  RECEPTION  BY  MR.  ALISON  AND  THE  ENGLISH  EM- 
BASSY.— INTERVIEW  AVITH  THE    SHAH. THE    KAVVAN  UD    DOWLET    AND  THE 

DEFEAT     AT     MERV. RETURN     BY     TREBIZONDE     AND    CONSTANTINOPLE     TO 

PESTH. AUTHOR    LEAVES    THE    KHIVA    MOLLAH    BEHIND    HIM  AT   PESTH   AND 

PROCEEDS   TO   LONDON. — HIS   WELCOME   IN   THE   LAST-NAMED   CITY. 


' '  Tis  siveet  to  hear  the  watch-dog'' s  honest  hark 
Bay  deep-mouth' d  welcome  as  we  draw  nigh  ho7}ie." — Byron. 


On  the  15th  of  November,  1863, 1  quitted  Herat, 
the  gate  of  Central  Asia  or  of  India,  as  it  is  usually 
called,  in  order  to  complete  my  journey  with  the  great 
caravan  bound  for  Meshed.  It  consisted  of  2000 
persons,  half  of  whom  were  Hezare  from  Kabul,  who, 
in  the  greatest  poverty  and  the  most  abject  state  of 
misery,  were  undertaking,  with  wives  and  children,  a 
pilgrimage  to  the  tombs  of  Shiite  saints.  Although 
all  formed  one  body,  it  had,  nevertheless,  many  sub- 
divisions. I  was  attached  to  a  division  consisting  of 
a  troojD  of  Afghans  from  Kandahar,  who  were  trad- 
ing with  Persia  in  indigo  or  skins  from  Kabul,  ow- 
ing to  my  having  made  my  agreement  with  the  same 


CuAP.  XV.  STAET  FOR  MESHED.  333 

djilodar.     I  had  been  able  to  persuade  him  to  allow 
me  to  take  my  seat  on  a  lightly-loaded  mule,  under 
the  engagement  that  I  would  pay  him  in  Meshed  as 
if  I  had  had  the  sole  use  of  it.     By  the  pretension, 
now  avowed  by  me,  that  in  Meshed  I  should  no  lon- 
ger be  in  a  state  of  destitution,  I  began  for  the  first 
time  myself  to  throw  a  doubt  upon  the  genuineness 
of  the  character  I  had  hitherto  assumed  of  a  hadji ; 
but  I  did  not  dare  completely  to  lay  aside  the  mask, 
because  the  Afghans,  more  fanatical  than  the  Bok- 
hariots,  would  have  probably  avenged  their  insulted 
tenets  upon  the  spot.     The  dubious  light  in  which  I 
stood  afforded,  however,  a  fund  of  interesting  surmises 
to  those  by  whom  I  was  surrounded ;  for  while  some 
of  them  took  me  for  a  genuine  Turk,  others  were  dis- 
posed to  think  me  an  Englishman ;  the  different  j)ar- 
ties  even  quarreled  on  the  subject,  and  it  was  very 
droll  to   observe  how  the  latter  began  to  triumph 
over  the  former  when  it  was  observed  that,  in  pro- 
portion as  we  drew  nearer  to  Meshed,  the  bent  pos- 
ture of  humility  of  the  dervish  began  more  and  more 
to  give  way  to  the  upright  and  independent  deport- 
ment of  the  European.     Some  Afghans,  agents  of 
wholesale  indigo-houses  in  Moultan  and  Shikarpur, 
seemed  quite  to  accommodate  themselves  to  my  met- 
amorphosis ;  for  although,  while  still  in  the  district 
of  Herat,  they  vaunted  their  characters  of  gazi  (men 
who  have  taken  part  in  the  war  against  the  English), 
and  boasted  in  the  most  extravagant  manner  of  the 
victory  in  Kabul,  they  confided  to  me,  as  we  drew 
near  to  Meshed,  that  they  were  English  subjects,  and 
urged  me  to  introduce  them  to  the  vekil  dowlet  (En- 


334  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XV. 

glish  consular  agent),  as  his  influence  and  protection 
would  be  of  great  service  to  them  in  their  commer- 
cial aftairs ;  and  this  they  did  without  the  slightest 
blush  of  shame.  The  Oriental  is  born  and  dies  in  a 
mask ;  candor  will  never  exist  in  the  East.  Our 
way  passed  by  Nukre,  Kale  Sefer  Khan,  Ruzenek, 
Shebesh,  and  Kuhsun.  At  Shebesh  the  woody  coun- 
try begins,  which  extends  along  the  bank  of  the  Heri, 
and  often  serves  the  Turkomans  for  a  retreat.  In 
Kuhsun,  where  the  territory  of  Herat  ends,  we  were 
obliged  to  stay  two  days,  to  pay  the  last  Afghan  du- 
ties. 

On  the  second  day  we  saw  from  the  tower  of  the 
caravanserai  an  immense  cloud  of  dust  approaching 
the  village.  "The  Turkomans !"  "The  Turkomans !" 
was  the  cry  on  all  sides.  The  consternation  in  car- 
avan and  village  beggars  all  description  :  at  last,  the 
cloud  coming  closer,  we  saw  an  immense  squadron 
of  wild  asses,  at  some  hundred  paces'  distance ;  they 
wheeled  round  and  vanished  from  our  eyes  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  desert. 

From  this  point  to  the  Persian  frontier,  which  com- 
mences at  Kahriz  and  Taybad,  lies  a  district  without 
claimant  or  owner,  over  which  from  north  to  south 
as  far  as  Khaf,  Kain,  and  even  Bihrdjan,  the  Tekke, 
Salor,  and  Sarik  send  forth  their  alamans  :  these, 
consisting  of  hundreds  of  riders,  fall  unawares  upon 
villages,  and  hurry  off  with  them  into  captivity  in- 
habitants and  herds  of  cattle.  In  spite  of  its  size, 
our  caravan  was  farther  strengthened  by  an  escort  of 
all  the  men  in  Kuhsun  capable  of  bearing  arms.  At' 
Kaiirkale  we  met  another  caravan  comino;  from  Me- 


Chai'.  XV.  YUSUF  KHAN  HEZAREH.  335 

shed.  I  learned  that  Colonel  Dolmage,  an  English 
officer  in  the  Persian  service,  whom  I  had  known  be- 
fore, was  in  the  latter  city.  The  tidings  were  a 
source  of  great  satisfaction  to  me.  After  Kafirkale 
we  came  to  the  caravanserai  Dagaru,  where  the  route 
divides  into  two,  the  one  going  by  Kahriz  and  Tiir- 
beti  Sheikh  Djam  through  a  plain,  the  other  by  Tay- 
bad,  Kiza,  Shehrinow ;  the  latter  is  very  mountain- 
ous, and  consequently  the  less  dangerous  of  the  tAvo. 
The  principal  part  of  the  caravan  proceeded  along 
the  former,  whereas  we  were  obliged  to  take  the  lat- 
ter, as  it  was  the  pleasure  of  the  Afghans  that  we 
should  do  so.  Our  way  passed  from  Taybad  through 
a  waste  deserted  country  named  Bakhirz  (perhaps 
Bakhiz),  inhabited  by  the  Sunnite  Hezare,  who  mi- 
grated hither  from  Kale  No.  There  are  five  stations 
before  reaching  the  plain  of  Kalenderabad.  In  Shehr- 
inow I  met  the  sertib  (general),  Yusuf  Khan,  a  He- 
zare chief  in  the  pay  of  Persia,  and  nevertheless  its 
bitterest  enemy.  The  policy  of  sending  him  to  the 
frontier  was  in  one  respect  good,  as  the  Hezare  are 
the  only  "tribe  capable  of  measuring  themselves" 
with  the  Turkomans,  and,  at  the  same  time,  objects 
of  dread  to  them ;  but  in  another  point  of  view  it 
may  be  doubted  how  far  it  is  judicious,  in  the  danger 
that  menaces  Persia  on  the  side  of  the  Afghans,  to 
make  use  of  enemies  to  guard  the  frontiers. 

From  Shehrinow  Ave  proceeded  over  Himmetabad 
and  Kelle  Munar,*  Avhich  is  a  station  situate  on  the 
top  of  a  mountain,  consisting  merely  of  a  single  tow- 
er, built  as  a  precaution  against  surprises.     The  se- 
*  The  word  sisruifies  "hill  of  skulls." 


336  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASLA..  Chap.  XV. 

vere  cold  occasioned  us  much  suffering,  but  the  next 
day  we  reached  Ferimon,  the  first  place  we  had  come 
to  whose  inhabitants  were  Persians.  Here  a  warm 
stable  made  me  forget  for  some  time  the  sufferings 
of  many  days  past.  At  last,  on  the  twelfth  day  after 
our  departure  from  Herat,  the  gilded  dome  of  the 
mosque  and  tomb  of  Imam  Riza  glittering  from  afar 
announced  to  me  that  I  was  approaching  Meshed, 
the  city  for  Avhich  I  had  so  longed.  That  first  view 
threw  me  into  a  violent  emotion,  but  I  must  admit 
not  so  great  as  I  expected  to  have  experienced  on 
the  occasion.  Without  seeking  to  exaggerate  the 
dangers  that  had  attended  my  undertaking,  I  may 
speak  of  this  point  as  the  date  of  my  regeneration ; 
and  is  it  not  singular,  that  the  reality  of  a  liberation 
from  a  state  of  danger  and  restraint  soon  left  me  per- 
fectly indifferent,  and  when  we  were  near  the  gates 
of  the  city  I  forgot  Turkomans,  desert,  tebbad,  every 
thing ! 

Half  an  hour  after  my  arrival  I  paid  a  visit  to 
Colonel  Dolmage,  who  filled  many  important  offices 
here  for  the  prince  governor,  and  stood  in  high  esti- 
mation every  where.  He  was  still  engaged  in  his  of- 
ficial place  of  business  when  his  servants  summoned 
him  to  me ;  they  announced  me  as  a  singular  dervish 
from  Bokhara.  He  hastened  home,  regarded  me  fix- 
edly for  a  long  time,  and  only  when  I  began  to  speak 
did  he  recognize  me,  and  then  his  warm  embrace  and 
tearful  eye  told  me  that  I  had  found  not  only  a  Eu- 
ropean, but  a  friend.  The  gallant  Englishman  offered 
me  his  house,  which  I  did  not  reject,  and  I  have  to 
thank  his  hospitality  that  I  so  far  recovered  from  the 


Chap.  XV.  PRINCE  SULTAN  MURAD  MUIZA.  337 

hardships  of  my  journey  as  to  be  able,  in  spite  of  the 
winter,  in  a  month's  time  to  continue  my  journey  to 
Teheran. 

Colonel  Dolmage  introduced  me  also,  during  my 
stay  in  Meshed,  to  the  prince  governor.  Sultan  Mu- 
rad  Mirza,  the  uncle  of  the  reigning  shah.  This 
prince,  the  son  of  that  Abba  Mirza,  whose  English 
predilections  are  so  well  known,  is  surnamed  "the 
kingdom's  naked  sword  ;'"'•■  and  he  deserves  the  title, 
for  it  is  to  be  ascribed  only  to  his  constant  watchful- 
ness and  energy  that  Khorasan,  under  his  administra- 
tion, has  not  suffered  more  from  the  incursions  of  the 
Turkomans,  and  that  the  roads  begin  everj^  w^here  to 
assume  an  appearance  of  bustle  and  animation.  I 
paid  him  several  visits,  and  was  always  received  with 
particular  kindness  and  affability.  We  conversed  for 
hours  together  respecting  Central  Asia,  upon  which 
subject  he  is  tolerably  well  informed.  His  delight 
was  OTeat  when  I  related  to  him  how  the  bigjoted  and 
suspicious  Emir  of  Bokhara,  who  styles  himself,  to 
the  disgust  of  all  the  Shiites,  "  Prince  of  the  true  be- 
lievers, "f  had  suffered  himself  to  be  blessed  by  me. 

To  the  praises  rightly  bestowed  upon  Sultan  Mu- 
rad  Mirza  by  M.  de  Khanikoff  and  Mr.  Eastwick,  I 
will  only  add,  that  in  point  of  energy,  sound  judg- 
ment, and  patriotism  there  are  few  who  resemble  him 
in  Persia,  or  scarcely  even  in  Turkey ;  but,  alas !  it  is 
not  a  single  swallow  that  makes  a  summer,  and  his 
abilities  will  never  find  a  worthy  field  of  exertion  in 
Persia. 

*  "  Husam  es  saltanat." 

f  Emir-ul-Muminim,  a  title  ascribed  bv  the  Shiites  to  Ali  alone. 

Y 


338  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XV. 

On  account  of  the  scantiness  of  my  European  ward- 
robe, I  was  obliged  to  continue  my  turban,  as  well  as 
my  Oriental  dress,  both  in  Meshed  and  during  the  re- 
mainder of  my  journey  to  Teheran  ;  but,  as  the  read- 
er will  very  well  understand,  I  had  said  adieu  to  all 
disguise  as  a  dervish.  My  acquaintance  with  the 
Euroj)ean  officer  above  mentioned  had  already  told 
my  fellow-travelers  sufficiently  who  and  what  I  was. 
My  character  and  mission  afforded  a  field  to  the  Af- 
ghans for  the  most  varying  and  extravagant  conclu- 
sions, and,  as  it  was  easy  for  me  to  perceive  that  they 
would  soon  inform  the  young  Prince  of  Herat  of  the 
fact,  I  thought  it  better  at  once  myself  to  anticipate 
them,  and  make,  in  the  customary  form,  my  own 
comm.unication.  In  a  letter  to  the  young  prince,  I 
congratulated  him  on  his  perspicacity,  and  told  him 
that,  although  not  an  Englishman,  I  was  next  door 
to  one,  for  that  I  was  a  European ;  that  he  Avas  an 
amiable  young  man,  but  that  I  would  advise  him  an- 
other time,  when  any  person  was  obliged  by  local  cir- 
cumstances to  travel  incognito  through  his  country, 
not  to  seek  publicly  and  rudely  to  tear  off  his  mask. 

After  having  passed  Christmas  with  the  hospita- 
ble English  officer  whom  I  have  mentioned,  I  began, 
on  the  day  following  (December  26),  my  journey  to 
Teheran,  without  either  joining  any  caravan,  or  hav- 
ing any  companion  excejDt  my  friend  the  mollah. 
We  were  both  mounted  on  good  horses,  my  own 
property,  as  were  also  other  articles  that  we  took 
with  us,  consisting  of  culinary  vessels  and  bedding, 
and,  in  fact,  every  possible  traveling  convenience;  and 
in  spite  of  my  having,  in  the  middle  of  winter,  to  per- 


Cii<u>.  XV.  ARRIVE  AT  TEHERAN.  339 

form  -twenty-four  stations,  I  shall  never  forget  the 
pleasure  that  I  experienced  in  the  journey  that 
brought  me,  each  step  that  I  advanced,  nearer  to  the 
West,  that  I  loved  so  well.  I  even  performed  with- 
out escort  the  four  stations  from  Mezinan  to  Shah- 
rud,  where  Persians,  from  fear  of  the  Turkomans, 
proceed  accompanied  by  pieces  of  artillery.  In  the 
last  city  I  met  in  the  caravanserai  an  Englishman 
from  Birmingham,  who  was  stopping  there  to  pur- 
chase wool  and  cotton.  What  was  the  astonishment 
of  the  Briton  when  he  heard  a  man  in  the  dress  of  a 
dervish,  with  an  immense  turban  on  his  head,  greet 
him  in  this  distant  land  with  a  "How  do  you  do?" 
In  his  amazement  his  countenance  assumed  all  hues  ; 
thrice  he  exclaimed,  "Well,  I — ,"  without  being  able 
to  say  more.  But  a  little  explanation  rid  him  of  his 
embarrassment ;  I  became  his  guest,  and  spent  a  fa- 
mous day  with  him  and  another  European,  a  well-in- 
formed Russian,  who  acted  there  as  agent  for  the 
mercantile  house  of  Kawkaz. 

From  Shahrud  I  took  ten  days  to  reach  the  Per- 
sian capital.  Toward  evening  on  the  19th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1864, 1  was  at  a  distance  of  two  leagues,  and, 
singular  to  say,  I  lost  my  way  at  the  village  Shah 
Abdul  Azim,  owing  to  the  obscurity ;  and  when, 
after  searching  about  a  long  time  in  all  directions,  I 
at  last  reached  the  gate  of  the  city,  I  found  it  shut, 
and  was  obliged  to  pass  the  night  in  a  caravanse- 
rai at  the  distance  of  only  a  few  paces.  The  next 
morning  I  hastened,  to  avoid  being  noticed  by  any 
one  in  my  droll  costume,  through  the  streets  of  Te- 
heran to  the  Turkish  embassy. 


340  TEAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XV. 

The  reader  will  easily  understand  in  what  tone  of 
mind  I  again  entered  that  edifice  which,  ten  months 
before,  I  had  left  with  my  head  full  of  such  vague 
and  adventurous  plans.  The  intelligence  that  my 
benefactor  Haydar  EfFendi  had  left  Teheran  affected 
me  very  much,  although  his  successor,  Ismael  Effendi, 
accredited  as  charge  (£ affaires  at  the  Persian  court, 
gave  me  an  equally  kind  and  hearty  reception.  This 
young  Turkish  diplomatist,  well  known  for  his  par- 
ticularly fine  breeding  and  excellent  character,  ren- 
dered me,  by  his  amiability,  eternally  his  debtor.  He 
immediately  vacated  for  me  an  entire  suite  of  rooms 
at  the  embassy,  so  that  the  comforts  I  enjoyed  during 
two  months  in  Teheran  made  me  forget  all  the  hard- 
ships and  sufferings  of  my  most  fatiguing  journey ; 
indeed,  I  soon  found  myself  so  strong  again  that  I 
felt  capable  of  commencing  a  similar  tour.  No  less 
kindness  and  favor  awaited  me  at  the  English  em- 
bassy. The  distinguished  representative  of  the  queen, 
Mr.  Alison,*  as  well  as  the  two  secretaries,  Messrs. 
Thompson  and  Watson,  really  rejoiced  at  the  happy 
and  successful  termination  of  my  journey;  and  I  have 
to  thank  their  kind  recommendations  alone  that  on 
my  arrival  in  England  to  publish  the  narrative  of 
my  travels,  I  met  with  so  much  unhoped-for,  and  I 
may  add,  too,  so  much  unmerited  support.  Nor  can 
I  omit  here  also  to  offer  my  acknowledgments  for  the 

*  This  gentleman  had,  by  an  act  of  great  generosity,  the  same 
winter  that  I  returned  to  Teheran,  caused  much  sensation  in  the 
Persian  capital.  Such  a  lesson  is  the  best  that  can  be  given  to 
Orientals,  and  far  more  meritorious  and  pregnant  of  consequence 
than  all  the  hypocritical  morality  of  which  others  make  a  vaunt. 


Chap.  XV.  INTERVIEW  WITH  TUE  SUAH.  341 

courtesy  shown  to  me  by  the  Imperial  charge  d'af- 
faires^ the  Count  Rochechouart. 

The  king  having  expressed  a  desire  to  see  me. 
I  was  officially  presented  by  Ismael  Effendi.  The 
youthful  Nasr-ed-din  Shah  received  me  in  the  middle 
of  his  garden.  On  being  introduced  by  the  minister 
for  foreign  affairs  and  the  chief  adjutant,  I  was  much 
astonished  to  find  the  ruler  of  all  the  countries  of 
Iran  watching  our  approach  with  an  eye-glass,  attired 
in  a  simple  dress,  half  Oriental  and  half  European.* 
After  the  customary  salutations,  the  conversation  was 
directed  to  the  subject  of  my  journey.  The  king  in- 
quired in  turn  about  all  his  royal  brethren  in  distant 
places,  and  when  I  hinted  at  their  insignificance  as 
political  powers,  the  young  shah  could  not  refrain 
from  a  little  gasconade,  and  made  an  observation 
aside  to  his  vizir.  "With  fift;een  thousand  men  we 
could  have  done  with  them  all."  Of  course,  he  had 
quite  forgotten  the  exclamation  after  the  catastrophe 
at  Merv :  "Kavvam!  kavvam !  redde  mihi  meas 
legiones."f     The  subject  of  Herat  was  also  touched 

*  The  under  garments  retain  for  the  most  part  the  native  cut, 
the  over  ones  alone  follow  European  fashions — a  real  picture  of 
our  civilization  in  the  East. 

f  The  unfortunate  campaign  against  Merv,  really  (as  I  ob- 
served) directed  against  Bokhara,  was  commanded  by  an  inca- 
pable court  favorite,  bearing  the  title  kavvam  eddowlet  ("  stabil- 
ity of  the  kingdom").  The  disastrous  defeat  there  suffered  by 
the  Persians  at  the  hands  of  the  Tekke  is  only  to  be  ascribed  to 
this  officer's  incompetency.  He  looked  upon  the  Turkomans  at 
Merv  with  the  same  contempt  with  which  Varus  had  contem- 
plated the  Cherusci  in  the  Avoods  of  the  Teutoues,  but  the  Per- 
sian was  too  cowardly  to  face  the  death  of  the  Roman  general. 
Neither  was  his  sovereign  an  Augustus.     He  exclaimed,  it  is 


342  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XV. 

upon.  Nasr-ed-din  Shah  questioned  me  as  to  the 
state  in  which  the  city  was  then.  I  replied  that 
Herat  was  a  heap  of  ashes,  and  that  the  Herati  were 
praying  for  the  welfare  of  his  majesty  of  Persia. 
The  king  caught  at  once  the  meaning  of  my  words, 
and,  in  the  hasty  manner  of  speaking  usual  with  him, 
which  reminded  me  of  the  fox  in  the  fable,  he  add- 
ed, "I  have  no  taste  for  such  ruined  cities.''  At  the 
close  of  my  audience,  which  lasted  half  an  hour,  the 
king  exj)ressed  his  astonishment  at  the  journey  I  had 
made,  and  left  me,  as  a  mark  of  especial  favor,  the 
ribbon  of  the  fourth  class  of  the  Order  of  the  Lion 
and  the  Sun,  after  which  I  was  obliged  to  write  for 
him  a  short  summary  of  my  travels. 

On  the  28th  of  March,  the  very  same  day  on 
which,  in  the  previous  year,  I  had  commenced  my 
journey  through  Central  Asia,  I  quitted  Teheran  on 
my  route  to  Trebizonde  by  Tabris.  As  far  as  the 
latter  city  we  had  the  finest  spring  weather,  and  it  is 
unnecessary  for  me  to  say  what  my  feelings  were 
when  I  called  to  mind  the  corresponding  date  in  the 
past  year.  Then  each  step  in  advance  took  me  far- 
ther toward  the  haunts  of  savage  barbarism  and  of 
unimaginable  dangers ;  now,  each  step  carried  me 
back  nearer  to  civilized  lands  and  my  own  beloved 
country.  I  was  very  much  touched  by  the  sympa- 
thy which,  on  my  way,  I  received  from  Europeans, 
as  in  Tabris,  from  my  distinguished  Swiss  friends, 
Messrs.  Hanhart  &  Company,  and  Mr.  Abbot,  the 

true, "  Reclde  mihi  meas  legiones,"  but  he  nevertheless  allowetl 
himself  to  be  appeased  by  a  payment  of  24,000  ducats ;  and  the 
base  coward,  even  at  the  present  day,  fills  a  high  post  in  Persia. 


Chai>.  XV.  SYMPATHY.— PROCEED  TO  PESTIL  343 

English  vice-consul;^ in  Trebizonde,  from  the  Italian 
consul,  Mr.  Bosio,  and  also  from  my  learned  friend, 
Dr.  O.  Blau,  and  jmrticularly  from  Herr  Dragorich, 
the  former  the  Prussian,  the  latter  the  Austrian  con- 
sul. All  these  gentlemen,  by  their  obligingness  and 
friendly  reception,  bound  me  to  them  eternally.  They 
knew  the  hardships  that  attend  traveling  in  the  East, 
and  their  acknowledgment  of  them  is  the  sweetest 
reward  that  can  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  traveler. 

As,  after  having  been  in  Kurdistan,  I  was  no  lon- 
ger able  to  distinguish  in  the  countenance  of  the  Os- 
manli  any  thing  Oriental,  so  now  I  could  see  in 
Stamboul  nothing  but,  as  it  were,  a  gorgeous  drop- 
curtain  to  an  unreal  Eastern  existence.  I  could  only 
indulge  myself  with  a  stay  of  three  hours  on  the 
shore  of  the  Bosphorus.  I  was  glad,  however,  still 
to  find  time  to  wait  upon  the  indefatigable  savcmt 
and  diplomat  Baron  von  Prokesh-Osten,  whose  kind 
counsels  with  reference  to  the  compilation  of  my  nar- 
rative I  have  kept  constantly  before  my  eyes.  Hence 
I  proceeded  to  Pesth  by  Kustendje,  where  I  left  be- 
hind me  my  brother  dervislr"  from  Kungrat,  who  had 
accompanied  me  all  the  way  from  Samarcand ;  for 
the  joy  of  tarrying  long  in  my  fatherland  was  not  al- 
lowed me,  as  I  was  desirous,  before  the  close  of  the 
season,  of  delivering  an  account  of  my  journey  to  the 

*  It  is  needless  for  me  to  picture  to  the  reader  how  this  poor 
Khivite,  transplanted  by  me  to  the  capital  of  Hungary  instead  of 
being  permitted  to  proceed  to  Mecca,  was  amazed,  and  how  he 
talked !  What  most  astonished  him  was  the  good-natm-e  of  the 
Frenghis,  that  they  had  not  yet  put  him  to  death,  a  fate  which, 
drawing  his  conclusions  from  the  corresponding  experience 
among  his  countrymen,  he  had  apprehended. 


344  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XV. 

Koyal  Geographical  Society  of  England,  an  object 
furthered  and  obtained  for  me  by  the  kind  recom- 
mendations of  my  friends.  I  arrived  in  London  on 
the  9th  of  June,  1864,  where  it  cost  me  incredible 
trouble  to  accustom  myself  to  so  sudden  and  extreme 
a  change  as  that  from  Bokhara  to  London. 

Wonderful,  indeed,  is  the  effect  of  habit  upon  men ! 
Although  I  had  advanced  to  the  maximum  of  these 
extremely  different  forms  of  existing  civilization,  as 
it  were,  by  steps  and  by  degrees,  still  every  thing  ap- 
peared to  me  here  surprisingly  new,  as  if  what  I  had 
previously  known  of  EurojDe  had  only  been  a  dream, 
and  as  if,  in  fact,  I  were  myself  an  Asiatic.  My  wan- 
derings have  left  powerful  impressions  upon  my 
mind.  Is  it  surprising  if  I  stand  sometimes  bewil- 
dered, like  a  child,  in  Regent  Street  or  in  the  saloons 
of  British  nobles,  thinking  of  the  deserts  of  Central 
Asia,  and  of  the  tents  of  the  Kirghis  and  the  Turko- 
mans? 


PART   11. 

— ♦ — 

TURKOMANS. 

KHIVA. 

BOKHARA. 

KHOKAND. 

CHINESE  TARTARY. 

ROUTES. 

AGRICULTURE  AND  TRADE. 

POLITICAL  RELATIONS. 

RUSSIANS  AND  ENGLISH. 


Chap.  XVI.  BOUNDARIES  AND  DIVISIONS.  347 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


BOUNDARIES  AND  DIVISION  OF  TRIBES.  —  NEITHER  RULERS  NOE  SUBJECTS. — 
DEB. — ISLAM. —  CHANGE  INTRODUCED  BY  THE  LATTER  ONLY  EXTERNAL. — 
INFLUENCE  OF  MOLLAHS. CONSTRUCTION  OF  NOMAD  TENTS. — ALAMAN,  HOW- 
CONDUCTED. PERSIAN   COWARDICE. TURKOMAN    POETS. TROUBADOURS. 

SIMPLE    MARRIAGE    CEREMONIES. HORSES. MOUNDS,    HOW    AND    WHEN 

FORMED. MOURNING    FOR    THE    DEAD. TURKOMAN     DESCENT. GENERAL 

POINTS   CONNECTED  WITH  THE    HISTORY  OF   THE   TURKOMANS. — THEIR  PRES- 
ENT  POLITICAL   AND   GEOGRAPHICAL   IMPORTANCE. 


"iVb»  se  urbibus  ienent  et  ne  statis  qiddem  sedibus.  Ut  invitavere  pabula,  ut 
cedens  et  sequens  hostis  exigit,  ita  res  opesque  secuvi  trahens,  semper  castra  habi- 
tant ;  bellatrix,  libera,  indomita." — Pomp.  Mela,  de  Situ  Orbis,  1.  ii.,  c.  4. 


THE  TURKOMANS  IN  THEIR  POLITICAL  AND  SO- 
CIAL RELATIONS. 

Boundaries  and  Divisions. 
The  Turkomans  or  Turkmen,*  as  they  style  them- 
selves, inhabit  for  the  most  part  that  tract  of  desert 
land  which  extends  on  this  side  of  the  River  Oxus, 
from  the  shore  of  the  Caspian  Sea  to  Balkh,  and 
from  the  same  river  to  the  south  as  far  as  Herat 
and  Astrabad.  Besides  the  partially  productive  soil 
Avhich  they  possess  along  the  Oxus,  Murgab  Tedjend, 

*  This  word  is  compounded  of  the  proper  name  Tiirk  and  the 
suffix  7nen  (corresponding  with  the  English  suffix  sM]),  dom)  ;  it 
is  applied  to  the  whole  race,  conveying  the  sense  that  the  nomads 
style  themselves  pre-eminently  Turks.  The  word  in  use  with  us, 
Turkoman,  is  a  corruption  of  the  Turkish  original. 


348  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVI. 

Gorghen,  and  Etrek,  where  they  actually  busy  them- 
selves a  little  with  agriculture,  the  country  of  the 
Turkomans  comprises  that  immense  awful  desert, 
where  the  traveler  may  wander  about  for  weeks  and 
weeks  without  finding  a  drop  of  sweet  water  or  the 
shade  of  a  single  tree.  In  winter  the  extreme  cold 
and  the  thick  snow,  in  summer  the  scorching  heat 
and  the  deep  sand,  present  equal  dangers ;  and  storms 
only  so  far  differ  from  each  other  in  these  different 
seasons  as  the  graves  that  they  prepare  for  the  cara- 
vans are  dry  or  moist. 

To  describe  with  more  exactitude  the  divisions  of 
the  Turkomans,  we  will  make  use  of  their  own  ex- 
pressions. According  to  our  European  ideas,  we 
name  their  main  divisions  stocks  or  tribes,  because 
we  start  from  the  assumption  of  one  entire  national- 
ity. But  the  Turkomans,  who,  as  far  as  history  re- 
cords, never  appear  united  in  any  single  body,  mark 
their  principal  races  by  the  name  khalk  (in  Arabic 
people),  and  designate  them  as  follows : 

I.  Tchaudor.  IV.  Kara.  YII.  Tekke. 

II.  Ersari.  V.  Salor.  VIII.  Goklen. 

III.  Alieli.  VI.  Sarik.  IX.  Yomut. 

Employing,  then,  the  expression  adopted  by  these 
nomads  themselves,  and  annexing  the  corresponding 
words  and  significations,  we  have : 


Turkoman  words. 

Primitive  sense. 

Secondary  sense. 

Khalk. 

People. 

Stock  or  tribe, 

Taife. 

People. 

Branch. 

Tire. 

Fragment. 

Lines  or  clans. 

The  khalks  are  divided  into  taife,  and  these  again 
into   tire.     We  proceed  to   touch  briefly  upon    all 


Chap.  XVI.  TCHAUDOR— ERSAKI— ALIELI.  349 

these  main  stocks,  devoting,  however,  our  particular 
attention  to  the  Tekke,  Goklen,  and  Yomuts,  who 
are  settled  to  the  south,  as  occasion  permitted  me  to 
visit  and  to  become  more  acquainted  with  these  from 
personal  contact. 

I.   TcHAUDOR. 

These  inhabit  the  southern  part  of  the  district  be- 
tween the  Caspian  Sea  and  the  Aral  Sea,  counting 
about  12,000  tents;  their  principal  tire,  or  branches, 
extending  from  the  former  sea  as  far  as  Kohne  Ur- 
gendj,  Buldumsaz,  Porszu,  and  Koktcheg  in  Khiva, 


are. 


Abdal.  Bozadji. 

Igdyr.  Buruudjuk. 

Essenlu.  Sheikh. 
Karatchaudor. 

II.  Ersari. 

These  dwell  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Oxus,  from 
Tschihardschuj  as  far  as  Balkh.  They  are  divided 
into  twenty  taife,  and  still  more  numerous  tire.  The 
number  of  their  tents  is  said  to  amount  to  from  fifty 
to  sixty  thousand.  As  they  inhabit  for  the  most 
part  the  bank  of  the  Oxus,  and  are  tributary  to  the 
Emir  of  Bokhara,  they  are  often  alluded  to  as  the 
Lebali-Ttirkmen,  or  Bank-Turkomans. 

III.  Alieli. 

These,  who  have  their  principal  seat  at  Andkhuy, 
form  only  three  little  tire,  not  counting  more  than 
three  thousand  tents. 


350  TKAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVI. 

IV.  Kara. 

A  small  but  exceedingly  savage  tribe  of  Turko- 
mans, who,  for  the  most  part,  are  found  loitering 
about  in  the  vicinity  of  certain  wells  in  the  great 
sandy  desert  between  Andkhuy  and  Merv.  They 
are  pitiless  robbers,  and  are  warred  against  as  such 
by  all  the  surrounding  tribes. 

V.  Salor. 

This  is  the  oldest  Turkoman  tribe  recorded  in  his- 
tory. It  was  already  renowned  for  its  bravery  at  the 
time  of  the  Arabian  occupation.  Its  numbers  were 
then  probably  greater,  for  they  have  suffered  very 
much  from  incessant  wars.  They  number  only  eight 
thousand  tents,  although  it  is  not  ten  years  since  they 
were  in  possession  of  the  important  point  of  Merv. 
They  are  nowadays  supplanted  by  the  Tekke  in  Mart- 
schah  and  its  vicinity.  They  consist  of  the  following, 
taife  and  tire : 

Taife.  Tire. 

1.  Talavadj Yasz,  Tiszi,  Sakai-,  Ordukhodjn. 

2.  Karaman Alani,  Gordjikli,  Beybolegi. 

3.  Ana  bolegi  ....  Yadschi,  Bokkara,  Bakaschtlore,  Tiumr. 

VI.  Sarik. 
These  do  not  stand  in  less  repute  for  bravery  than 
the  tribe  of  Salor.     Their  numbers,  too,  are  less  than 
they  were  formerly.     At  present  the  Sariks'-'  inhabit 

*  The  women  of  this  ti'ibe,  Sarik,  have  a  peculiar  renown  as 
manufacturers  of  a  tissue  called  agary.  It  is  formed  of  the  hair 
of  the  young  camel  (three  or  four  days  old),  which,  after  being 


Chap.  XVI.  THE  TEKKE  TRIBE.  35]^ 

the  regions  about  Pendschdeli,  on  the  bank  of  the 
Murgab.  With  the  exception  of  their  neighbors  the 
Djemshidi,  they  are  in  hostile  relations  with  all  the 
Turkomans.  They  are  separated  into  the  following 
taife  and  tire : 

Taife.  Tire.  "^ 

1.  Khorasanli  .  .  .  Bedeng,  Khodjali,  Kizil,  Hnszeinali. 

2.  Biradj Kaulibash,  Kultcha,  Szudjan. 

3.  Sokhti Tapyr,  Mumatag,  Kurd,  Kadyr. 

4.  Alascha Kodjeck,  Bogadja,  Huszein  Kara,  Szaad, 

Okensziz. 

5.  Herzegi Yerki,  Djanibeg,  Kurama,  Jatan,  Japagy. 

The  number  of  their  tents,  I  was  told,  amounts  to 
ten  thousand. 

VII.  Tekke. 
These  form  at  this  day  the  greatest  and  most  pow- 
erful tribe  of  the  Turkomans.  They  are  separated 
into  two  principal  encampments — the  first  at  Akhal 
(to  the  east  of  Tedjend),  and  the  second  at  Merv. 
According  to  the  best  accounts,  they  have  sixty  thou- 
sand tents.  Possessing  less  land  that  is  capable  of 
being  cultivated  than  the  other  Turkoman  tribes,  they 
are,  so  to  say,  almost  forced  by  nature  itself  to  com- 
mit acts  of  robbery,  and  are  a  real  scourge  in  the 
hand  of  God  to  the  northeasterly  portions  of  Persia, 
to  Herat  and  its  neighborhood.     I  have  only  been 

boiled  in  milk,  during  four  or  five  days  acquires  an  elasticity  and 
consistence  as  of  a  silk  pulp;  this  substance  they  afterward  draw 
out  and  weave  into  the  material  so  called.  It  is  of  particular 
beauty  and  strength,  and  is  in  high  esteem,  and  of  great  value  as 
a  material  for  forming  the  overdress  of  men.  It  is  to  be  met 
with  in  Persia,  and  always  fetches  high  prices. 


352  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Cuxv.  XVI. 

able  to  ascertain  the  following  subdivisions ;  there 
are  probably  many  others : 

Taife.  Tire. 

1.  Otemisch  .  .  .  Kelletscho,  Sultansiz,  Szitschmaz  Kara  Ah- 

med. 

2.  Bakhshi  ....  Perreng,    Topaz,    Korszagry,    Aladjagoz, 

Tashajak  Aksefi  Goh,  Marsi,  Zakir,  Ka- 
zilar. 

3.  Toktamish    .  .  Bokburun  Araanshah,  Goktcbe  Beg,  Kara, 

Khar,  Kongor,  Yussuf,  Jazi,  Arik  Ka- 
radja. 

VIII.   GOKLEN. 

Judging  by  the  position  and  the  relations  in  which 
I  found  these,  I  am  justified  in  characterizing  them 
as  belonging  to  the  most  peaceable  and  most  civil- 
ized Turkomans.  Willingly  occupying  themselves 
with  the  pursuits  of  agriculture,  they  are  subject, 
most  of  them,  to  the  King  of  Persia.  They  dwell 
in  the  lovely  region  so  famed  in  history,  that  of  the 
ancient  Gurgan  (now  the  ruins  of  Shehri  Djordjan). 
Their  branches  and  clans  are  as  follows : 

Taife.  Tire. 

1.  Tshakir  ....  Gokdish,  Alaraet,  Toramen,  Khorta,  Kara- 

vul,  Kosze,  Kulkara,  Baynal. 

2.  Begdlli   ....  Pank,  Amankhodja,  Bora6,  Karishraaz. 

3.  Kayi Djankurbanli,     Erkekli,     Kizil     Akindjik, 

Tckendji   Bok  Khodja  Kodana   Lemek 
Kaniasz,  Dari. 

4.  Karabalkan  .  .  Tshotur,  Kapan,  Szigirsiki,  Pashej,  Adjibeg. 

5.  Kyryk Giyinlik  Szufian,  Dehene  Karakuzu,  Tcheke, 

Gokese  Kabaszakal,  Ongiit,  Kongor. 

6.  Bajindir  ....  Kalaydji,  Kortik,  Yapagi  Yadji  Keszir,  Ya- 

sagalik  Toreng. 

7.  Gerkesz  ....  Mollalar,  Kosze  Ataniyaz  Mehrem  Borre. 


Chap.  XVI.  THE  YOMUTS.  353 

Taife.  Tire. 

8.  Jangak  ....  Kurstit   Madjiman,   Kotii,  Dizegri,  Szar- 

idsche,  Ekiz. 

9.  Szengrik    .  .  .  Karashur,  Akshur,  Kutchi,  Khar,  Sheikh- 

begi. 
10.  Aj  Derviscb   .  Otschu,  Kodjamaz,  Dehli,Tchikszari,Arab, 
Adschem,  Kandjik. 

These  ten  branches  are  said  to  contain  ten  thou- 
sand tents,  a  number,  perhaps,  not  exaggerated. 

IX.    YOMUT. 

The  Yomuts  inhabit  the  east  shore  of  the  Caspian 
Sea  and  some  of  its  islands.  Their  original  appella- 
tion is  Gorghen  Yomudu  (Yomuts  of  the  Gorghen). 
Besides  these  there  are  the  Khiva  Yomudu  (Yomuts 
of  Khiva),  who  have  chosen  for  their  abode  the  oth- 
er end  of  the  desert,  close  upon  the  Oxus. 

The  particular  places  in  the  desert  where  the  Yo- 
muts first  above  mentioned  are  wont  to  encamp,  be- 
ginning to  reckon  them  from  the  Persian  frontier  up- 
ward, are  as  follows : 

1.  Kliodja  Nefes^  at  the  lower  mouth  of  the  Gor- 
ghen, an  encampment  of  from  forty  to  sixty  tents, 

'  furnishes  a  strong  contingent  to  the  audacious  pirates 
that  render  the  Persian  coast  so  insecure. 

2.  Gomushtejpe^  more  particularly  a  winter  quarter, 
not  habitable  in  summer  on  account  of  the  prevalence 
of  virulent  fevers.  It  extends,  as  already  mentioned, 
in  the  upper  mouth  of  the  Gorghen,  which  is  here 
tolerably  deep,  and  which,  from  the  wonderful  num- 
ber of  fish  that  it  yields,  is  of  great  service  to  this 
tribe.  ? 

3.  Hasankuli,  on  the  shore  of  the  gulf  of  this  sea. 

Z 


354  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVI. 

having  the  same  name.     This  place  is  densely  peo- 
pled in  summer,  and  produces  tolerably  good  melons. 

4.  Etreh  lies  to  the  left  of  Hasankuli,  on  the  banks 
of  the  river  of  like  appellation,  which,  at  a  distance 
of  six  miles  from  this  place,  precipitates  itself  into 
the  sea. 

5.  Tchekishlar,  also  a  yaylak  (summer  abode),  near 
to  the  hill  on  the  sea-shore,  named  Ak  Tepe. 

6.  Tcheleken,^'  an  island  only  distant  a  few  miles 
from  the  continent.  The  inhabitants  are'  peaceful 
traders. 

The  Yomuts  are  divided  into  the  following  branch- 
es and  clans : 

Taife.  Tire. 

1.  Atabay Sehene,  Diingirtchi,   Tana    Ki- 

sarka,  Kesze,  Temek. 

2.  Djafer  bay,  having  again  flri  Tomatch,  Kizil  Sakalli,  Arig- 

two  divisions :  ■{      koseli,      Tchokkan      borkan, 

a.  Yarali (^     Onuk  Tomatch. 

b.  Nurali Kelte,  Karindjik,  GaziliKor,na- 

sankululu  kor  Pankotek. 

3.  Sheref  Djuni,  of  whom 

one  part  dwells  in  Gor- 
ghen  and  the  other  in 
Khiva. 

a.  Gorghen Karabolke,  Tevedji,  Telgay  Dja- 

fer. 

b.  Khiva Okiiz,   Salak,    LTshak,    Kodjnk, 

Meshrik,  Imreli. 

4.  Ogurdjali Semedin,  Ghiray  Terekme,  Ne- 

din. 

The  Ogurdjali,  hardly  ever  busying  themselves  with 


*  Better  written  Tchereken,  from  the  Persian  Tchar-ken,  the 
four  mines,  so  called  on  account  of  the  four  principal  productions 
of  the  island. 


Chap.  XVI.  LIST  OF  TRIBES.  355 

marauding  and  robbery,  refuse  to  recognize  the  Yo- 
muts  as  of  their  tribe,  and  dealing  themselves  peace- 
ably with  Persia,  with  which  they  have  great  activi- 
ty of  commerce,  they  have  become  subjects  of  the 
shah,  to  whom  they  j)ay  a  yearly  tribute  of  1000 
ducats.  The  Persians,  hoAvever,  do  not  interfere  in 
their  internal  government. 

The  Yomuts  themselves  are  accustomed  to  count 
the  number  of  their  tents  in  the  aggregate  at  from 
forty  to  fifty  thousand.  Their  calculations  are  as 
little  to  be  guaranteed  as  the  statements  of  the  other 
tribes,  for  the  greatness  of  their  numbers  always  con- 
stitutes, with  these  nomads,  a  question  of  national 
pride. 

Let  us  now  add  together  the  different  tribes : 

Tribes.  No.  of  Tents. 

1.  Tcliaudor     12,000 

2.  Ersari     50,000 

3.  Alieli 3,000 

4.  Kara 1,500 

5.  Salor 8,000 

6.  Sarik 10,000 

V.  Tekke     60,000 

8.  Goklen 12,000 

9.  Yomut 40,000 

196,500 

Pv-eckoning  to  each  tent  five  persons,  we  have  a 
sum  total  of  982, 500  souls;  and  as  I  have  myself 
diminished  the  Turkoman  statements  by  at  least  a 
third,  we  may  regard  this  as  the  lowest  possible  esti- 
mate of  the  whole  population. 


356  TRAVELS  IN  CENTKAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVI. 

Political  Condition  of  the  Turkomans. 

What  surprised  me  most  during  my  sojourn  among 
this  people  was  my  inability  to  discover  any  single 
man  among  them  desirous  of  commanding,  or  an}^ 
individual  inclined  to  obey.  The  Turkoman  himself 
is  wont  to  say,  "Biz  bibash  khalk  bolamiz  (We  are 
a  people  without  a  head),  and  we  will  not  have  one. 
We  are  all  equal;  with  us,  every  one  is  king."  In 
the  political  institutions  of  all  the  other  nomads  we 
occasionally  discover  some  sign,  more  or  less  defined 
— some  shadow  of  a  government,  such  as  the  aksakal 
among  the  Turks,  the  rish  sefid  among  the  Persians, 
or  the  sheikh  among  the  Arabs.  Among  the  Turko- 
mans we  find  no  trace  of  any  such  character.  The 
tribes  have,  it  is  true,  their  aksakals ;  but  these  are, 
in  effect,  merely  ministers  to  each,  particular  circle, 
standing,  to  a  certain  degree,  in  a  position  of  honor- 
able distinction.  They  are  liked  and  tolerated  so 
long  only  as  they  do  not  make  their  supremacy  felt 
by  unusual  commands  or  extravagant  pretensions. 

"How,  then,'"  the  reader  will  inquire,  "can  these 
notorious  robbers"' — and  the  savageness  of  their  na- 
ture is  really  unbounded — "live  together  without 
devouring  each  other  f  The  position  in  which  they 
stand  is  really  surprising ;  but  what  shall  we  say  to 
the  fact  that,  in  spite  of  all  this  seeming  anarchy,  in 
spite  of  all  their  barbarism,  so  long  as  enmity  is 
not  openly  declared,  less  robbery  and  murder,  Jeiver 
breaches  of  justice  cmd  of  morcdity,  take  place  among 
them  than  among  the  other  nations  of  Asia  whose 
social  relations  rest  on  the  basis  of  Islam  civiliza- 


Chap.  XVI.  THE  "DEB"  AND  ISLAM.  357 

tion?  The  inhabitants  of  the  desert  are  ruled,  often 
tyrannized  over,  by  a  mighty  sovereign,  invisible  in- 
deed to  themselves,  but  whose  presence  is  plainly  dis- 
cerned in  the  word  "deb" — custom^  usage.'-'' 

Among  the  Turkomans  the  "deb"  is  obeyed  ;  every 
thing  is  practiced  or  abominated  according  to  its  in- 
junctions. Next  to  the  "deb"  we  may  refer  also,  in 
exceptional  cases,  to  the  influence  of  religion.  The 
latter,  however,  which  came  to  them  from  Bokhara, 
Avhere  so  much  fanaticism  jDrevails,  is  far  from  being 
so  influential  as  has  been  said.  It  is  generally  sup- 
posed that  the  Turkoman  plunders  the  Persian  be- 
cause the  latter  belongs  to  the  detested  sect  of  the 
Shiites.  It  is  a  gross  error :  I  am  firmly  convinced 
that  the  Turkoman  would  still  cling  to  his  plunder- 
ing habits,  which  the  "deb''  sanctions,  even  if  he  had 
for  his  neighbors  the  Sunnite  Turks  instead  of  the 
Persians.  What  I  advance  derives  the  strons-est  con- 
firmation  from  other  considerations — from  the  fre- 
quency of  the  attacks  made  by  the  Turkomans  upon 
the  countries  belonging  to  Sunnites,  upon  Afghanis- 
tan, Maymene,  Khiva,  and  even  Bokhara.  Later  ex- 
perience, too,  convinced  me  that  the  greater  number 
of  the  slaves  in  Central  Asia  belong  to  the  religious 
sect  of  the  Sunnites.  I  once  put  the  question  to  a 
robber,  renowned  for  his  piety,  how  he  could  make 
up  his  mind  to  sell  his  Sunnite  brothers  as  slaves, 
Avhen  the  Prophet's  words  were,  "Kulli  Iszlam  hurre 
(Every  Mussulman  is  free)?"'  "Bchey!"  said  the 
Turkoman,  with  supreme  indifference;  "the  Koran, 

*  "-Deb"  is  a  word  of  Arabian  origin,  derived  from"edeb" 
(morality). 


358  TKAVELS  IN  CENTKAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVI. 

God's  book,  is  certainly  more  precious  than  man,  and 
yet  it  is  bought  or  sold  for  a  few  krans.  What  more 
can  you  say  ?  Yes,  Joseph,  the  son  of  Jacob,  was  a 
prophet,  and  Avas  himself  sold.  Was  he,  in  any  re- 
spect, the  worse  for  that  V 

It  is  very  remarkable  how  little  the  "deV  has 
suffered  in  its  struggle  of  eight  centuries  with  Mo- 
hammedanism. Many  usages,  which  are  prohibited 
to  the  Islamite,  and  which  the  mollahs  make  the  ob- 
ject of  violent  attack,  exist  in  all  their  ancient  orig- 
inality ;  and  the  changes  effected  by  Islam,  not  only 
among  the  Turkomans,  but  among  all  the  nomads 
of  Middle  Asia,  were  rather  confined  to  the  external 
forms  of  the  religion  previously  existing.  What 
they  before  found  in  the  sun,  fire,  and  other  phenom- 
ena of  nature,  they  saw  now  in  Allah-Mohammed: 
the  nomad  is  ever  the  same,  now  as  two  thousand 
years  ago ;  nor  is  it  possible  for  any  change  to  take 
place  in  him  till  he  exchanges  his  light  tent  for  a 
substantial  house — in  other  words,  till  he  has  ceased 
to  be  nomad. 

To  return  to  the  subject  of  the  influence  of  the  ak- 
sakals,  I  may  be  permitted  to  remark  that  these,  as 
ray  experience  among  the  Yomuts  enables  me  to  say, 
are,  in  points  of  external  relations,*  really  fair  repre- 
sentatives of  the  general  wishes  of  the  particular 
tribe ;  but  they  are  no  envoys  intrusted  with  full 
powers,  and  how  powerless  they  really  are  Russia 
and  Persia  have  had  many  opportunities  of  learning. 
These  two  countries  have,  at  great  expense,  sought  to 

*  For  instance,  where  Persia,  Russia,  or  other  Turkoman  tribes 
not  directly  allied  are  concerned. 


CiiAP.  XVI.  THE  MOLLAIIS.  359 

attach  the  aksakals  to  their  interest,  in  order,  through 
them,  to  put  a  stop  to  the  habit  of  plundering  and 
robbery — a  policy  that  up  to  the  present  day  has  had 
but  little  success. 

The  mollahs  enjoy  greater  respect,  not  so  much 
from  being  Islamites,  as  from  the  more  general  repu- 
tation for  religion  and  mystery  which  attaches  to 
their  character,  and  which  is  the  .object  of  the  dread 
of  the  superstitious  nomads.  The  mollahs,  educated 
in  Khiva  and  in  Bokhara,  are  cunning  people,  who 
from  the  beginning  assume  the  appearance  of  holi- 
ness, and  make  off  as  soon  as  they  have  once  filled 
their  sacks.  But  the  chief  support  of  the  social  un- 
ion is  the  firm  cohesion,  not  merely  of  the  particular 
divisions,  but  of  the  whole  tribe.  Every  Turkoman 
— nay,  even  the  child  of  four  years — knows  the  taife 
and  tire  to  which  he  belongs,  and  points  with  a  cer- 
tain pride  to  the  power  or  to  the  number  of  his  par- 
ticular branch,  for  that  really  is  the  shield  that  de- 
fends him  from  the  capricious  acts  of  others ;  and, 
indeed,  in  the  event  of  one  member  suffering  from  the 
hand  of  violence,  the  whole  tribe  is  bound  to  demand 
satisfaction. 

With  regard  to  the  particular  relations  of  the  Yo- 
muts  Avith  neighboring  tribes  and  countries,  I  have 
found  that  they  live  in  an  inveterate  and  irreconcila- 
ble enmity  with  the  Goklen.  At  the  time  I  was  in 
Etrek,  negotiations  were  on  foot  for  a  treaty  of  peace 
with  the  Tekke,  which  was  a  lucky  circumstance  as 
far  as  our  journey  was  concerned.  I  learned,  how- 
ever, later,  that  the  peace  was  never  concluded ;  in 
fact,  it  may  be  considered,  and  particularly  by  Per- 


360  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVI. 

sia,  a  fortunate  circumstance  that  the  union  of  tribes, 
in  so  high  a  degree  warlike,  should  be  impossible;  for 
the  provinces  of  Persia,  and  particularly  Mazendran, 
Khorasan,  and  Sigistan,  are  constantly  exposed  to 
depredations  of  particular  tribes — Tekke  and  Yomut 
need  only  to  combine  to  produce  unceasing  injury. 
The  Turkoman  is  intoxicated  with  the  successes  that 
have  always  attended  his  arms  in  Iran,  and  he  onlj' 
deigns  to  laugh  at  the  menaces  of  that  country,  even 
when  it  seeks  to  carry  them  into  effect  by  the  actual 
march  of  an  army.  The  position  of  Russia  is  very 
different,  whose  might  the  Yomuts  have  hitherto 
learned  both  to  know  and  to  fear  merely  from  the 
petty  garrison  at  Ashourada.  I  heard  that  about 
four  years  ago  the  Russians,  in  violation  of  all  their 
treaties  with  Persia,  had  attacked  the  encampment 
of  Gomiishtepe  with  an  armed  force  barely  120 
strong,  and  that  the  Turkomans,  although  they  far 
outnumbered  them,  betook  themselves  to  flight,  allow- 
ing their  assailants  to  plunder  and  burn  their  tents. 
A  report  as  to  the  "  infernal"'"' iirms  made  use  of  by 
the  Russians  spread  itself  among  the  Tekke;  but 
what  the  nomads  find  it  so  difficult  to  withstand  is 
no  doubt  the  excellent  discipline  of  their  opponents. 

Social  Relations. 

But  now  to  accompany  the  Turkoman  into  his 
home  and  his  domestic  circle.  We  must  first  com- 
mence by  speaking  of  the  nomad  himself,  of  his  dress, 
and  his  tent. 

The  Turkoman  is  of  Tartaric  origin,  but  has  only 
retained  the  type  of  his  race  in  cases  where  circum- 


Chap.  XVI.  DRESS  OF  THE  TURKOMANS.  361  ' 

stances  have  conspired  to  prevent  any  intermixture 
with  the  Iranis.  This  is  remarkably  the  case  with 
the  Tekke,  the  Goklen,  and  the  Yomuts ;  for  among 
them  the  pure  Tartar  physiognomy  is  only  met  with 
in  those  branches  and  families  which  have  sent  fewer 
alaman  to  Persia,  and  have  consequently  introduced 
amono"  themselves  fewer  black-haired  slaves.  Still 
the  Turkoman,  whether  he  has  departed  more  or  less 
from  the  original  type,  is  always  remarkable  for  his 
bold,  penetrating  glance,  which  distinguishes  him 
from  all  the  nomads  and  inhabitants  of  towns  in 
Central  Asia,  and  for  his  proud  military  bearing; 
for  although  I  have  seen  many  young  men  of  mar- 
tial demeanor  among  the  Kirghis,  Karakalpak,  and 
Ozbegs,  it  was  only  in  the  Turkoman  that  I  always 
found  an  absolute  independence,  an  absence  of  all 
constraint.  His  dress  is  the  same  as  that  worn  at 
Khiva,  with  some  slight  modification  for  man  and 
woman,  by  the  addition  of  little  articles  of  luxury 
from  Persia.  The  part  of  the  attire  of  most  import- 
ance is  the  red  silk  shirt  that  the  ordinances  of  the 
Koran  forbid,  but  which  is  still  worn  by  both  sexes ; 
with  the  Turkoman  women  it  constitutes,  in  reality, 
the  whole  home  attire.  My  eye  had  great  difficulty 
in  habituatino;  itself  to  the  sight  of  old  matrons  and 
mothers  of  families,  marriageable  maidens  and  young 
girls,  moving  about  in  shifts  reaching  to  the  ankle. 
The  covering  of  the  head  for  the  man  is  a  fur  cap, 
lighter  and  more  tasty  than  the  awkward  cap  of  the 
Ozbeg,  or  the  large,  towering  hat  of  the  Persian. 
They  employ  also  the  tchapan,  an  overdress  resem- 
bling our  dressing-gown,  which  comes  from  Khiva, 


362  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVI. 

but  of  which  they  curtail  the  proportions  when  they 
take  part  in  a  tchapao  (predatory  expedition).  The 
women,  when  dressing  themselves  for  holidays,  are 
accustomed  also  to  bind  a  shawl  round  the  waist  over 
their  long  shift,  which  hangs  down  in  two  slips;  high- 
heeled  boots,  red  or  yellow,  are  also  indispensable ; 
but  the  objects  that  are  most  coveted,  and  that  give 
them  most  pleasure,  are  the  trinkets,  rings  for  neck, 
ear,  or  nose,  and  etuis  for  amulets,  and  resembling 
cartouch-boxes,  which  are  often  seen  hanging  down 
on  their  left  side  and  on  their  right,  as  with  us  the 
ribbons  which  are  used  in  the  different  orders  of 
knighthood.  These  accompany  every  movement  of 
the  body  with  a  clear  sound,  as  it  were,  of  bells. 

The  Turkoman  is  very  fond  of  such  clatter,  and 
attaches  articles  that  produce  it  either  to  his  wife  or 
his  horse ;  or,  when  the  opportunity  there  fails  him, 
he  steals  a  Persian,  and  suspends  chains  upon  him. 
To  render  the  lady's  attire  complete,  a  Hungarian 
dolmany  (Hussar  jacket)  is  hung  from  the  shoulders, 
which  is  only  permitted  to  be  so  long  as  to  leave  vis- 
ible the  ends  of  her  hair  plaited  with  a  ribbon. 

The  tent  of  the  Turkoman,  which  is  met  with  in 
the  same  form  throughout  all  Central  Asia  and  as 
far  as  the  remotest  parts  of  China,  is  very  neat,  and 
in  perfect  accordance  with  the  life  led  by  the  nomad. 
We  annex  a  representation  in  three  forms :  1st,  the 
frame-work  cut  in  wood ;  2d,  the  same  when  covered 
with  pieces  of  felt ;  3d,  its  interior.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  the  wood-work,  all  its  component  parts  are 
the  product  of  the  industry  of  the  Turkoman  woman, 
who  busies  herself  also  witli  its  construction  and  the 


TENT  IN   CENTRAL   ASIA. 
(A.  Framework.    B.  Covered  with  Felt.    C.  Interior.) 


364  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.      Chap.  XVI. 

putting  together  the  various  parts.  She  even  packs 
it  up  upon  the  camel,  and  accompanies  it  in  the  wan- 
derings of  her  people,  close  on  foot.  The  tents  of  the 
rich  and  poor  are  distinguished  by  their  being  got  up 
with  a  greater  or  less  pomp  in  the  internal. arrange- 
ments. There  are  only  two  sorts :  1.  Karaoy  (black 
tent,  that  is,  the  tent  which  has  grown  brown  or  black 
from  age) ;  2.  Akoy  (white  tent,  that  is,  one  covered 
in  the  interior  with  felt  of  snowy  whiteness :  it  is 
erected  for  newly-married  couples,  or  for  guests  to 
whom  they  wish  to  pay  particular  honor).  Alto- 
gether the  tent,  as  I  met  with  it  in  Central  Asia,  has 
left  upon  my  mind  a  very  pleasing  impression.  Cool 
in  summer  and  genially  warm  in  winter,  what  a  bless- 
ing is  its  shelter  when  the  wild  hurricane  rages  in  all 
directions  around  the  almost  boundless  steppes !  A 
stranger  is  often  fearful  lest  the  dread  elements  should 
rend  into  a  thousand  pieces  so  frail  an  abode ;  but 
the  Turkoman  has  no  such  apprehension ;  he  attach- 
es the  cords  fast  and  sleeps  sweetly,  for  the  howling 
of  the  storm  sounds  in  his  ear  like  the  song  that  lulls 
the  infant  in  its  cradle !  The  customs,  usages,  and 
occupations  of  the  Turkomans  might  furnish  matter 
for  an  entire  volume,  so  great  and  so  remarkable  is 
the  distinction  between  their  manner  of  life  and  our 
own.  I  must,  however,  here  limit  myself  to  a  few 
traits  in  their  characters,  and  only  touch  upon  what 
is  indispensable  to  my  narrative.  The  leading  feat- 
ures in  the  life  of  a  Turkoman  are  the  alaman  (preda- 
tory expedition)  or  the  tchapao  (the  surprise).  The 
invitation  to  any  enterprise  likely  to  be  attended  with 
profit  finds  him  ever  ready  to  arm  himself  and  to 


CuAP.XVI.  PERSIAN  COWARDICE.  355 

spring  to  his  saddle.  The  design  itself  is  always  kept 
a  profound  secret  even  from  the  nearest  relative;  and 
as  soon  as  the  serdar  (chief  elect)  has  had  lavished 
upon  him  by  some  mollah  or  other  the  fatiha  (ben- 
ediction), every  man  betakes  himself,  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  evening,  by  different  ways,  to  a 
certain  place,  before  indicated  as  the  rendezvous. 

The  attack  is  always  made  either  at  midnight, 
when  an  inhabited  settlement,  or  at  sunrise,  when  a 
caravan  or  any  hostile  troop  is  its  object.  This  at- 
tack of  the  Turkomans,  like  that  of  the  Huns  and 
Tartars,  is  rather  to  be  styled  a  surprise.  They  sepa- 
rate themselves  into  several  divisions,  and  make  two, 
hardly  ever  three  assaults  upon  their  unsuspecting 
prey;  for,  according  to  a  Turkoman  proverb,  "Try 
twice,  turn  back  the  third  time.''*  The  party  assail- 
ed must  possess  great  resolution  and  firmness  to  be 
able  to  Avithstand  a  surprise  of  this  nature  ;  the  Per- 
sians seldom  do  so.  Very  often  a  Turkoman  will  not 
hesitate  to  attack  five  or  even  more  Persians,  and 
will  succeed  in  his  enterprise.  I  have  been  told  by 
the  Turkomans  that  not  unfrequently  one  of  their 
number  will  make  four  or  five  Persians  prisoners. 
"Often,"  said  one  of  these  nomads  to  me,  "the  Per- 
sians, struck  Avith  a  panic,  throw  away  their  arms, 
demand  the  cords,  and  bind  each  other  mutually;  we 
have  no  occasion  to  dismount  except  for  the  purpose 
of  fastening  the  last  of  them."  Not  to  allude  to  the 
defeat  of  22,000  Persians  by  5000  Turkomans  on  a 
very  recent  occasion,  I  can  state  as  an  undoubted  fact 
the  immense  superiority  of  the  sons  of  the  desert  over 
*  "Iki  denrr  titschde  doiio^." 


366  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVI. 

the  Iranis.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  it  is  the  ter- 
rible historical  prestige  of  the  Tartars  of  the  North 
that  robs  the  boldest  Persian  of  his  courage ;  and  yet 
how  dear  has  a  man  to  pay  for  his  cowardice !  He 
who  resists  is  cut  down ;  the  coward  who  surrenders 
has  his  hands  bound,  and  the  horseman  either  takes 
him  up  on  his  saddle  (in  which  case  his  feet  are 
bound  under  the  horse's  belly),  or  drives  him  before 
him :  whenever  from  any  cause  this  is  not  possible, 
the  wretched  man  is  attached  to  the  tail  of  the  ani- 
mal, and  has  for  hours  and  hours — yes,  for  days  and 
days — to  follow  the  robber  to  his  desert  home.  Those 
who  are  unable  to  keep  up  with  the  horseman  gen- 
erally perish.*  What  awaits  him  in  that  home  the 
reader  already  knows.  Let  me  add  an  anecdote  of 
an  occurrence  which  I  myself  witnessed.  It  occurred 
in  Gomiishtepe.  An  alaman  returned  richly  laden 
with  captives,  horses,  asses,  oxen,  and  other  movable 
property.  They  proceeded  to  the  division  of  the 
booty,  separating  it  into  as  many  portions  as  there 
had  been  parties  to  the  act  of  violence.  But,  besides, 
they  left  in  the  centre  one  separate  portion  :  this  was 
done  to  make  all  good,  as  I  afterward  remarked.  The 
robbers  went  up  each  in  his  turn  to  examine  his  share. 
One  was  satisfied ;  a  second  also;  the  third  examined 
the  teeth  of  the  Persian  woman  who  had  been  allot- 
ted to  him,  and  observed  that  his  share  was  too  small, 
whereupon  the  chief  went  to  the  centre  heap  and 
placed  a  young  ass  by  the  side  of  the  poor  Persian 

*  I  once  heard  a  young  girl  say  that  her  mother  had  been 
killed  and  left  in  the  desert  because  unable  to  follow  the  Turko- 
mans in  their  rapid  flight. 


Chap.  XVI.  TURKOMAN  HORSES.  3g7 

slave ;  an  estimate  was  made  of  the  aggregate  value 
of  the  two  creatures,  and  the  robber  was  contented : 
this  course  was  often  repeated ;  and  although  my 
feelings  revolted  at  the  inhumanity  of  the  proceed- 
ing, I  could  not  refrain  from  laughing  at  the  droll 
composition  of  these  different  shares  of  spoil. 

The  main  instrument,  the  one  to  which  the  Turko- 
man gives  the  j^reference  over  all  others  in  his  forays, 
is,  beyond  all  question,  his  horse,  Avhich  is  really  a 
wonderful  creature,  prized  by  the  son  of  the  desert 
more  than  his  wife,  more  than  his  children,  more 
than  his  own  life.  It  is  interesting  to  mark  with 
what  carefulness  he  brings  him  up,  how  he  clothes 
him  to  resist  cold  and  heat,  what  magnificence  he  dis- 
plays in  the  accoutrements  of  his  saddle,  in  which  he, 
perhaps  in  a  wretched  dress  of  rags,  makes  a  strange 
contrast  with  the  carefully-decorated  steed.  These 
fine  animals  are  well  worth  all  the  pains  bestowed 
upon  them,  and  the  stories  recounted  of  their  speed 
and  powers  of  endurance  are  far  from  being  exagger- 
ated. By  origin  the  Turkoman  horse  is  Arabian,  for 
even  at  the  present  da}^  those  of  the  purest  blood  are 
known  by  the  name  Bedevi  (Bedoueen).  The  horses 
of  the  Tekke  stand  very  high  and  are  very  fast,  but 
are  far  from  possessing  the  bottom  or  powers  of  en- 
durance of  the  smaller  horses  of  the  Yomuts. 

The  profit  arising  to  the  nomads  by  their  abomina- 
ble practice  of  kidnapping  by  no  means  compensates 
for  the  perils  which  it  entails,  for  it  is  not  often  that 
it  diminishes  the  poverty  to  which  the  son  of  the  des- 
ert is  born.  And  what  if  he  is  able  to  save  a  few 
small  coins  ?     His  mode  of  living,  simple  in  the  ex- 


368  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVI. 

treme,  would  rarely  call  for  such  ;  and  I  have  known 
many  Turkomans  who,  in  spite  of  a  condition  of  in- 
creased prosperity,  have  continued  to  eat  dried  fish, 
and  have  allowed  themselves  bread  but  once  in  the 
week,  just  like  the  very  poorest,  to  whom  the  price 
of  wheat  renders  bread  almost  inaccessible. 

In  his  domestic  circle  the  nomad  presents  us  a  pic- 
ture of  the  most  absolute  indolence.  In  his  eyes  it 
is  the  greatest  shame  for  a  man  to  apply  his  hand  to 
any  domestic  occupation.  He  has  nothing  to  do  but 
to  tend  his  horse ;  that  duty  once  over,  he  hurries  to 
his  neighbor,  or  joins  one  of  the  group  that  squat  on 
the  ground  before  the  tents,  discussing  topics  con- 
nected with  politics,  recent  raids,  or  horseflesh.  In 
the  mean  time  the  inevitable  tchilira,  a  sort  of  Per- 
sian pipe,  in  which  the  tobacco  is  not  moistened, 
jDasses  from  hand  to  hand. 

It  is  only  during  evening  hours,  particularly  in 
the  winter  time,  that  they  love  to  listen  to  fairy  tales 
and  stories ;  it  is  regarded  as  an  enjoyment  of  a  still 
higher  and  more  elevated  nature  w^hen  a  Bakhshi 
(Troubadour)  comes  forward,  and  to  the  accompani- 
ment of  his  diitara  (a  two-stringed  instrument)  sings 
a  few  songs  of  Koroglu,  Aman  Mollah,  or  the  nation- 
al poet,  Makhdumkuli,  whom  they  half  deify.  The 
latter,  regarded  as  a  sort  of  saint,  was  a  Turkoman 
of  the  Goklen  tribe ;  he  died  about  eighty  years  ago, 
Makhdumkuli  died,  as  I  heard  from  Kizil  Akhond, 
during  the  civil  wars  between  the  Yomuts  and  the 
Goklens :  his  generous  spirit  could  not  endure  to 
contemplate  the  spectacle  of  brother  struggling  in 
murderous  combat  with  brother,  whose  wives   and 


CuAP.  XVI.  TURKOMAN  POETS.  369 

children  were  reciprocally  captured  and  sold  to  slav- 
ery. 

In  his  biography,  clouded  Avith  fable,  I  found  him 
represented  as  a  wondrous  man,  who,  without  going 
to  Bokhara  or  Khiva,  was  divinely  inspired  in  all 
books  and  all  sciences.  Once  being  on  horseback, 
he  was  surprised  by  an  overpowering  sleep ;  he  saw 
himself,  in  fancy,  transported  to  Mecca  into  a  circle 
where  the  Prophet  and  the  first  khalifs  were  assem- 
bled. With  a  thrill  of  reverence  and  awe,  he  looked 
round  and  perceived  that  Omar,  the  patron  of  the 
Turkomans,  was  beckoning  to  him.  He  approached 
the  latter,  who  blessed  him  and  struck  him  a  slight 
blow  on  the  forehead,  whereupon  he  awoke.  From 
that  instant  the  sweetest  poesy  began  to  flow  from 
his  lips,  and  his  books  will  long  occupy  with  the  Tur- 
komans the  first  place  after  the  Koran.  In  other 
respects  the  collection  of  poems  by  Makhdumkuli  is 
of  particular  interest ;  first,  as  furnishing  us  with  a 
pure  specimen  of  the  Turkoman  dialect ;  secondly, 
because  the  method,  particularly  of  that  part  which 
relates  to  precepts  as  to  horse-breeding,  arms,  and 
the  alaman,  is  such  as  we  rarely  find  in  the  literature 
of  the  Oriental  nations. 

How  charming  to  me,  too,  those  scenes,  which  can 
never  pass  from  my  memory,  when,  on  festal  occa- 
sions, or  during  the  evening  entertainments,  some 
Bakhshi  used  to  recite  the  verses  of  Makhdumkuli ! 
When  I  was  in  Etrek,  one  of  these  Troubadours  had 
his  tent  close  to  our  own ;  and  as  he  paid  us  a  visit 
of  an  evening,  bringing  his  instrument  with  him, 
there  flocked  around  him  the  young  men  of  the  vicin- 

Aa 


370  TKAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVI. 

ity,  whom  he  was  constrained  to  treat  with  some  of 
his  heroic  lays.  His  singing  consisted  of  certain 
forced  guttural  sounds,  which  we  might  rather  take 
for  a  rattle  than  a  song,  and  which  he  accompanied 
at  first  with  gentle  touches  of  the  strings,  but  after- 
ward, as  he  became  more  excited,  with  wilder  strokes 
upon  the  instrument.  The  hotter  the  battle,  the 
fiercer  grew  the  ardor  of  the  singer  and  the  enthusi- 
asm of  his  youthful  listeners ;  and  really  the  scene 
assumed  the  appearance  of  a  romance,  when  the 
young  nomads,  uttering  deep  groans,  hurled  their 
caps  to  the  ground,  and  dashed  their  hands  in  a  pas- 
sion through  the  curls  of  their  hair,  just  as  if  they 
were  furious  to  combat  with  themselves. 

And  yet  this  ought  not  to  surprise  us.  The  edu- 
cation of  the  young  Turkoman  is  in  every  respect 
calculated  to  bring  him  to  this  tone  of  mind.  Only 
one  in  a  thousand  can  read  and  write :  horses,  arms, 
battles,  and  robberies  are  the  subjects  that  exercise, 
in  youth,  the  imaginations  of  all.  I  once  heard  even 
the  honest  Khandjan,  who  intended  to  read  a  lesson 
to  his  son,  recount  that  a  certain  young  Turkoman 
had  already  kidnapped  two  Persians,  and  "of  him" 
(pointing  to  his  son)  "he  feared  he  should  never  be 
able  to  make  a  man." 

Some  customs  and  usages  of  the  Turkomans  are 
very  remarkable,  as  we  have  but  faint  traces  of  them 
amono;  the  other  nomads  of  Central  Asia.  But  there 
is  also  the  marriage  ceremonial,  where  the  young 
maiden,  attired  in  bridal  costume,  mounts  a  high- 
bred courser,  taking  on  her  lap  the  carcase  of  a  lamb 
or  goat,  and,  setting  off  at  full  gallop,  is  followed  by 


372  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVI. 

the  bridegroom  and  other  young  men  of  the  party, 
also  on  horseback;  but  she  is  always  to  strive,  by 
adroit  turns,  etc.,  to  avoid  her  pursuers,  that  no  one 
of  them  approach  near  enough  to  snatch  from  her 
the  burden  on  her  lap.  This  game,  called  Kokburi 
(green  wolf),  is  in  use  among  all  the  nomads  of  Cen- 
tral Asia. 

To  mention  another  singular  usage,  sometimes 
two,  sometimes  four  days  after  the  nuptials,  the  new- 
ly-married couple  are  separated,  and  the  permanent 
union  does  not  begin  until  after  the  expiration  of  an 
entire  year. 

Another  singular  custom  has  reference  to  the 
mourning  for  the  decease  of  a  beloved  member  of 
the  family.  It  is  the  practice,  in  the  tent  of  the  de- 
parted one,  each  day  for  a  whole  year,  without  excep- 
tion, at  the  same  hour  that  he  drew  his  last  breath, 
for  female  mourners  to  chant  the  customary  dirges, 
in  which  the  members  of  the  family  present  are  ex- 
pected to  join.  In  doing  so,  the  latter  proceed  with 
their  ordinary  daily  emjDloyments  and  occupations ; 
and  it  is  quite  ridiculous  to  see  how  the  Turkoman 
polishes  his  arms  and  smokes  his  pipe,  or  devours  his 
meal,  to  the  accompaniment  of  these  frightful  yells 
of  sorrow.  A  similar  thing  occurs  with  the  women, 
who,  seated  in  the  smaller  circumference  of  the  tent 
itself,  are  wont  to  join  in  the  chant,  to  cry  and  weep 
in  the  most  plaintive  manner,  while  they  are  at  the 
same  time  cleaning  wool,  spinning,  or  performing 
some  other  duty  of  household  industry.  The  friends 
and  acquaintances  of  the  deceased  are  also  expected 
to  pay  a  visit  of  lamentation,  and  that  even  when 


Chap.  XVI.  HISTORY  OF  THE  TURKOMANS.  373 

the  first  intelligence  of  the  misfortune  does  not  reach 
them  until  after  months  have  elapsed.  The  visitor 
seats  himself  before  the  tent,  often  at  night,  and,  by 
a  thrilling  yell  of  fifteen  minutes'  duration,  gives  no- 
tice that  he  has  thus  performed  his  last  duty  toward 
the  defunct.  When  a  chief  of  distinction,  one  Avho 
has  really  well  earned  the  title  of  bator  (valiant),  per- 
ishes, it  is  the  practice  to  throw  up  over  his  grave  a 
joszka'-''  (large  mound) ;  to  this  every  good  Turko- 
man is  bound  to  contribute  at  least  seven  shovelfuls 
of  earth,  so  that  these  elevations  often  have  a  circum- 
ference of  sixty  feet,  and  a  height  of  from  twenty  to 
thirty  feet.  In  the  great  plains  these  mounds  are 
very  conspicuous  objects  ;  the  Turkoman  knows  them 
all,  and  calls  them  by  their  names — that  is  to  say,  by 
the  names  of  those  that  rest  below. 

Let  me  conclude  this  short  account  of  the  Turko- 
mans with  a  still  briefer  review  of  their  history,  in 
which  I  shall  confine  myself  to  what,  in  these  partic- 
ulars, I  have  heard  regarded  as  traditions  still  com- 
manding credit  among  them.  "We  all  spring,"  said 
to  me  my  learned  friend  Kizil  Akhond,  "from  Man- 
ghischlak.  Our  ancestors  were  Szon  Khan  and  Es- 
zen  Hi.  Yomut  and  Tekke  were  the  sons  of  the  first, 
Tchaudor  and  Goklen  of  the  second.  Mansfhischlak 
was  in  the  most  ancient  times  called  Ming  Kisclilak 
(a   thousand   winter  quarters),   and  is  the    original 

*  This  custom  existed  among  the  ancient  Huns,  and  is  in  use 
in  Hungary  even  at  the  present  day.  In  Kashau  (Upper  Hun- 
gary) a  mound  was  raised  a  few  years  ago,  at  the  suggestion  of 
Count  Edward  Karolyi,ia  memory  of  the  highly  respected  Count 
St.  Szechcnyi. 


374  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVI 

home,  not  only  of  those  of  our  race  who  have  separa- 
ted and  migrated  to  Persia,  but  of  the  Ersari,  Salor, 
and  the  rest  of  the  tribes.  Our  saints  of  the  olden 
times,  as  Ireg  Ata'^'  and  Sari-er,  repose  within  the 
confines  of  Manghischlak ;  and  especially  fortunate 
is  he  who  has  been  able  to  visit  their  tombs." 
Khandjan  told  me  that,  so  late  as  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years  ago,  the  Turkomans  had  very  rarely  any 
other  dresses  than  those  which  they  prepared  of 
sheepskins,  or  the  hides  of  horse  or  wild  ass ;  that 
nowadays  this  was  all  changed,  and  the  only  thing 
that  remains  to  remind  us  of  the  old  national  cos- 
tume is  the  fur  cap. 

The  animosities  prevailing  among  the  different 
tribes  often  lead  to  the  reciprocal  insulting  reproach 
of  "  descendants  of  slaves."  The  time  when  they  left 
their  common  country  can  not  be  fixed  with  exacti- 
tude. Ersari,  Sarik,  and  Salor  were  already,  at  the 
time  of  the  Arabian  occupation,  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  desert,  on  this  side  of  the  Oxus.  Tekke,  Gok- 
len,  and  Yomut  took  possession  of  their  present  coun- 
try at  a  later  period,  perhaps  in  the  time  of  Djenghis 
Khan  and  Tirnour.  The  change  of  abode  of  these 
last-mentioned  tribes  took  place  only  by  partial  emi- 
grations, and,  indeed,  can  not  even  at  the  present  day 
be  said  to  be  more  than  half  complete,  for  many  Yo- 
muts  and  Goklens  still  loiter  about  their  ancient  seat 
with  singular  predilection.  During  the  Middle  Ages, 
the  Turkoman  horsemen  were  for  the  most  part  to 
be  met  with  in  the  service  of  the  khans  of  Khiva 

*  Ireg  Ata  means  "  the  great  father"  in  Hungarian ;  Ores: 
Atya,  "old  father." 


Chap.  XVI.  HISTORY  OF  THE  TURKOMANS.  376 

and  Bokhara ;  often,  also,  under  the  banners  of  Per- 
sia. The  renown  of  their  bravery,  and  particularly 
of  their  furious  charges,  spread  far  and  wide ;  and 
certain  of  their  leaders,  like  Kara  Yuszuf,  who  took 
part  with  the  tribe  Salor  in  the  campaigns  of  Ti- 
mour,  acquired  historical  celebrity.  The  Turkomans 
contributed  much  to  the  Turkecizing  of  North  Persia 
at  the  epoch  when  the  family  of  the  Atabegs  ruled 
in  Iran ;  and  beyond  all  dispute  it  is  they  who  con- 
tributed the  largest  contingent  to  the  Turkish  popu- 
lation on  the  other  side  of  the  Caucasus,  to  Azer- 
baydjan,  Mazendran,  and  Shiraz.* 

It  is  remarkable  that,  in  spite  of  the  bitter  hostil- 
ity reigning  between  the  Turkomans  and  their  Shiite 
brethren  in  Persia,  the  former  still  always  especially 
name  Azerbaydjan  as  the  seat  of  a  higher  civiliza- 
tion ;  and  whenever  the  Bakhshi  is  asked  to  sing 
something  more  than  usually  beautiful  and  original, 
Azerbaydjanian  songs  are  always  called  for;  nay, 
even  the  captive  Irani,  if  of  Turkish  origin,  may  al- 
ways expect  more  merciful  treatment,  for  the  Turko- 
man says, "He  is  our  brother,  this  unbeliever. ''f 

The  last  risings  of  the  Turkomans  in  mass  occur- 

*  There  are  even  now  four  or  five  of  the  smaller  Turkish 
tribes  living  a  nomadic  life  in  the  district  around  Shiraz.  Their 
ilkhani  (chieftain),  with  whom  I  became  acquainted  in  Shiraz  in 
1862,  told  me  that  he  can  raise  from  them  30,000  horsemen,  and 
some,  as  the  Kashkai  and  the  Allahverdi,  had  been  transplanted 
hither  by  Djenghis  Khan.  In  Europe  this  fact  has  not  been  ap- 
preciated; and  even  Burnes,  in  other  respects  well  informed, 
thinks  he  has  found,  in  a  place  of  like  name  in  the  vicinity  of 
Samarcand,  the  Turki  shirazi  mentioned  by  Hafiz  in  bis  songs. 

f  "  Kardashi  miz  dir  ol  Kafir." 


376  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVI. 

red  under  Nadir  Shah  and  Aga  Mehemmed  Khan. 
Nadir,  helped  by  these  tribes  and  by  the  Afghans, 
at  the  commencement  of  the  last  centmy  shook  Asia 
out  of  her  slumber ;  and  the  second  conqueror  above 
mentioned  availed  himself  of  the  sword  of  the  Turk- 
omans to  found  his  dynasty.  Nomads  are  well  aware 
of  the  fact,  and  make  the  ingratitude  of  the  Kadjar  a 
subject  of  frequent  complaint,  who,  since  the  time 
of  Feth  Ali  Shah,  have,  they  say,  entirely  forgotten 
them,  and  even  withdrawn  the  lawful  pensions  of 
several  of  their  chiefs. 

To  form  an  idea  of  the  political  importance  of  the 
nomads,  we  need  only  cast  a  glance  at  the  map  of 
Central  Asia.  We  there  see  at  once  that  they  have 
become,  from  their  position,  the  guardians  of  the 
southern  frontiers  of  the  entire  Asiatic  Highlands 
of  Turkestan,  as  they  name  it  themselves.  The  Turk- 
oman is,  without  any  possibility  of  contradiction,  next 
to  the  Kiptchak,  the  most  warlike  and  savage  race 
of  Central  Asia:  in  his  rear,  in  the  cities  of  Khiva, 
Bokhara,  and  Khokand,  we  find  the  seat  of  coward- 
ice and  effeminacy  ;  and  had  he  not  constituted  him- 
self, as  it  were,  into  a  barrier  of  iron,  things  would 
never  have  remained,  in  the  three  countries  just  men- 
tioned, in  the  condition  in  which  they  Avere  after  the 
time  of  Kuteibe  and  Ebu  Muszlim,'-*  and  in  which 
they  still  continue. 

*  The  former  conquered  Turkestan  in  the  time  of  Khalif  Omar; 
the  latter,  having  first  been  governor  of  Merv,  fought  for  a  long 
time  the  battle  of  independence,  in  conjunction  with  the  Turk- 
omans and  Kharesmians,  against  his  master,  the  sovereign  of 
Bagdad. 


Chap.  XVI.  CIVILIZATION.  377 

Civilization,  some  may  think,  has  a  predilection 
for  the  way  that  leads  from  the  south  to  the  north ; 
but  how  can  any  spark  penetrate  to  Central  Asia,  as 
long  as  the  Turkomans  menace  every  traveler  and 
every  caravan  -with  a  thousand  perils  ? 


378  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVII. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE     CITY     OF     KHIVA. 

KHIVA,  THE  CAPITAL.  —  PRINCIPAL  DIVISIONS,  GATES,  AND  QUARTERS  OF  THE 
CITY. BAZARS. MOSQUES. MEDRESSE  OR  COLLEGES;  HOW  FOUNDED,  OR- 
GANIZED, AND  ENDOWED. POLICE. KHAN  AND  HIS  GOVERNMENT. TAXES. 

TRIBUNALS. KHANAT. CANALS. POLITICAL   DIVISIONS. PRODUCE. 

MANUFACTURES  AND  TRADE. PARTICULAR  ROUTES. KHANAT,  HOW  PEO- 
PLED.— OZBEGS. — TURKOMANS. — KARAKALPAK. — KASAK  (kIRGHIs). — SART. 
—  PERSIANS.  —  HISTORY  OF  KHIVA  IN  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY.  —  KHANS 
AND  THEIR   GENEALOGY. 


' '  Les  principaux  Tartares  firent  asseoir  le  Khan  sur  une  piece  de  Jeutre  ef  hi 
dirent-  *■  Honore  les  grands,  sois  juste  et  bienfesant  envers  tons;  sinon  tu  seras  si 
mis&able  que  tu  n^ auras  pas  ineme  le  feutre  sur  lequel  tu  es  assis,' " — Voltaire, 
Essai  sur  les  Mceurs,  c.  Ix. 


A.  Khiva,  the  Capital. 
As  we  are  speaking  of  an  Oriental  city,  what  need 
to  say  that  the  interior  of  Khiva  is  very  different 
from  what  its  exterior  would  lead  us  to  expect! 
First,  reader,  you  must  have  seen  a  Persian  city  of 
the  lowest  rank,  and  then  you  will  understand  my 
meaning  when  I  say  that  Khiva  is  inferior  to  it; 
or  picture  to  yourself  three  or  four  thousand  mud 
houses  standing  in  different  directions  in  the  most 
irregular  manner,  with  uneven  and  unwashed  walls, 
and  fancy  these  surrounded  by  a  wall  ten  feet  high, 
also  made  of  mud,  and  again  you  have  a  conception 
of  Khiva. 


Chap.  XVII.  KHIVA.— DIVISIONS.— BAZAES.  379 

Its  Divisions. 

The  city  is  divided  into  two  parts :  (a)  Khiva  prop- 
er, and  {b)  Itch  Kale,  the  citadel  with  its  encircling 
wall,  which  .can  be  shut  off  from  the  outer  city  by 
four  gates ;  and  consists  of  the  following  mahalle 
(quarters) :  Pehlivan,  Uluyogudj,  Akraesdjid,  Yipek- 
tchi,  Koshbeghimahallesi. 

The  city,  properly  so  called,  has  nine  gates  and  ten 
mahalle  (quarters).* 

Bazars. 
Bazars,  or  shops  for  sale,  equal  to  those  which  we 
meet  with  in  Persia  and  in  other  Oriental  cities,  do 
not  exist  in  Khiva.  The  following  only  deserve  any 
mention.  Tim,  a  small  well-built  bazar,  with  tolera- 
bly high  vaulted  ceilings,  containing  about  120  shops 
and  a  caravanserai.     Here  are  exposed  all  the  cloth, 

*  That  is  to  say,  toward  the  north,  Urgendj  dervazesi,i  Gen- 
dumghia  dervazesi,  Iinaret  dervazesi ;  toward  the  east,  Ismah- 
mudata  dervazesi,  Hezaresp  dervazesi ;  to  the  south,  Shikhlar 
dervazesi,  Pishkenik  dervazesi,  Rafenek  dervazesi ;  and  to  the 
west,  Bedrkhan  dervazesi.  There  are  ten  mahalle  (quarters), 
that  is  to  say. 


1.  Or. 

2.  Kefterkhane. 

3.  Mivesztan,  where  the  fruit 

is  sold. 

4.  Mehterabad. 

5.  Yenikale. 

6.  Bala  Havuz,  where  there  is 

a  large  reservoir  of  water 


surrounded  by  plane-trees, 
serving  as  a  place  of  rec- 
reation. 

7.  Nanyemezorama.2 

8.  Nurullahbay. 

9.  Bagtche. 
10,  Rafenek. 


•  Dervaze,  a  Persian  word  meaning  gate. 

°  This  word  means  "village  that  eats  no  bread." 


380  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.XVII. 

hardware,  fancy  articles,  linen,  and  cotton  that  the 
Russian  commerce  supplies,  as  well  as  the  inconsid- 
erable produce  proceeding  from  Bokhara  and  Persia. 
Around  the  tim  are  also  to  be  seen  nanbazari  (bread 
market),  bakalbazari  (grocers),  shembazari  (the  soap 
and  candle  market),  and  the  sertrashbazari  (from  ten 
to  twelve  barbers'  rooms,  where  the  heads  are  shaved : 
I  say  the  heads,  for  the  man  would  be  regarded  as 
out  of  his  senses  or  would  be  punished  with  death 
who  should  have  his  beard  shaved). 

I  must  also  class  among  the  bazars  the  kitchik  ker- 
vanserai,  where  the  slaves  brought  by  the  Tekke  and 
the  Yomuts  are  exposed  for  sale.  But  for  this  arti- 
cle of  business  Khiva  itself  could  not  exist,  as  the 
culture  of  the  land  is  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the 
slaves.  "When  we  come  to  speak  of  Bokhara,  we 
will  treat  this  subject  more  at  large. 

Mosques. 
There  are  few  mosques  in  Khiva  of  much  antiqui- 
ty or  artistic  construction.  Those  that  follow  alone 
deserve  notice.  (1.)  Hazreti  Pehlivan,  an  edifice  four 
centuries  old,  consisting  of  one  large  and  two  small 
domes:  it  contains  the  tomb  of  Pehlivan  Ahmed 
Zemtchi,  a  revered  saint,  patron  of  the  city  of  Khi- 
va. Its  exterior  promises  little,  although  the  kashi 
(ornamental  tiles)  of  the  interior  are  tasteful,  but  un- 
fortunately the  place  itself  is  dark,  and  the  insuffi- 
ciency of  the  lighting  of  the  interior  leaves  much  that 
the  eye  can  not  distinguish.  Both  inside  the  dome 
and  in  the  courts  leading  to  it  there  are  always  swarms 
of  blind  practitioners  of  the  memoria  teclinica^  who 


Chap.  XVII.  KHIVA.— COLLEGES.  381 

know  the  Koran  by  heart  from  frequent  repetition, 
and  are  ever  reciting  passages  from  it.  (2, )  Another 
mosque  is  the  Djiima-a-Mesdjidi,  which  the  khan  at- 
t(?nds  on  Friday,  and  where  the  official  khutbe  (prayer 
for  the  ruling  sovereign)  is  read.  (3.)  Khanmesdjidi, 
in  the  interior  of  the  citadel.  (4.)  Shaleker,  which 
owes  its  construction  to  a  farmer.  (5.)  Atamurad 
Kushbeghi.     (6.)  Karayiizmesdjidi. 

Medresse  (Colleges). 

The  number  of  collesres  and  their  ma2;nificent  en- 
dowments  are,  in  Central  Asia,  always  a  criterion  of 
the  degree  of  prosperity  and  religious  instruction  of 
the  population ;  and  when  we  consider  the  limited 
means  at  their  disposal,  we  can  not  but  laud  the  zeal 
and  the  readiness  to  make  sacrifices  evinced  both  by 
king  and  subject  when  a  college  is  about  to  be  found- 
ed and  endowed.  Bokhara,  the  oldest  seat  of  Islam- 
ite civilization  in  Central  Asia,  is  a  pattern  in  this 
respect ;  but  some  colleges  exist  in  Khiva  also,  and 
of  these  we  shall  particularly  mention  the  follow- 
ing: 

(1.)  Medemin*  Khan  Medressesi,  built  in  1842  by 
a  Persian  architect,  after  the  model  of  a  Persian  cara- 
vanserai of  the  first  rank.  On  the  right  is  a  mass- 
ive tower,  somewhat  loftier  than  the  two-storied  me- 
dresse, but  which,  owing  to  the  death  of  the  builder, 
remains  imperfect.  This  college  has  130  cells,  afi'ord- 
ing  accommodation  for  260  students  ;  it  enjoys  a  rev- 
enue of  12,000  Khivan  batman  of  wheat,  and  5000 
tilla  (£2500  sterling)  in  money.  To  give  the  reader 
*  Abbreviation  of  Mehemmed  Emin. 


882  TEAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVII. 

an  idea  of  this  institution,  I  will  state  the  manner  in 
which  this  revenue  is  apportioned,  in  order  to  show 
the  parties  composing  the  personnel. 

Batman.        Tilla. 

5  Akhond  (professors)  receive  yearly  3000  150 

1  Imam 2000  40 

1  Muezzin  (caller  to  j^rayers) 200  0 

2  Servants 200  0 

1  Barber 200  0 

2  Muttewali,  or  inspectors,  receive  a 

tithe  of  the  whole  revenue ;  the 
residue  is  divided  among  the  stu- 
dents, who  form  three  classes : 

1st  class 60  4 

2d      "       30  2 

3d      "       15  1 

(2.)  Allahkuli  Khan  Medressesi  has  120  cells,  and 
the  yearly  revenue  of  the  jDupils  is  fifty  batman  and 
two  tilla  (<£1  sterling). 

(3.)  Kutlug  Murad  Inag  Medressesi,  Each  cell 
produces  fifty  batman  and  three  tilla. 

(4.)  Arab  Khan  Medressesi  has  only  a  few  cells, 
but  is  richly  endowed. 

(5.)  Shirgazi  Khan  Medressesi. 

These  medresse  are  the  only  edifices  in  the  midst 
of  the  mud  huts  that  deserve  the  name  of  houses. 
Their  courts  are  for  the  most  part  kept  clean,  are 
planted  with  trees,  or  used  as  gardens.  Of  l;he  sub- 
ject in  which  instruction  is  given  we  will  sj^eak  here- 
after, remarking  only  by  the  way  that  the  lectures 
themselves  are  delivered  in  the  cells  of  the  profess- 
ors to  groups  of  scholars  ranged  together  according 
to  the  degree  of  their  intellectual  capacity. 


Chap.XVH.     police.— the  KHAN.— GOVERNMENT.  333 

Police. 
In  each  quarter  of  the  town  there  is  a  mirab,'-'  re- 
sponsible by  day  for  the  public  order  of  his  district, 
in  case  of  any  rioting,  theft,  or  other  crime.  The 
charge  of  the  city  after  sunset  is  intrusted  to  the 
four  j^asheb  (chief  watchmen),  who  are  bound  to  pa- 
trol the  whole  night  before  the  gate  of  the  citadeL 
Each  of  them  has  eight  under-watchraen  subject  to 
his  orders,  who  are  at  the  same  time  public  execu- 
tioners. These,  in  all  thirty-two  in  number,  go  about 
the  city,  and  arrest  every  one  who  shows  himself  in 
the  streets  half  an  hour  after  midnight.  Their  par- 
ticular attention  is  directed  to  burglars,  or  to  the  he- 
roes of  the  intrigues  proscribed  by  the  law :  woe  to 
those  caught  in  flagrante  delicto  ! 

B.  The  Khan  and  his  Government. 
That  the  Khan  of  Khiva  can  disj^ose  despotically, 
according  to  his  good  pleasure,  of  the  property  and 
lives  of  his  subjects,  scarcely  requires  to  be  mention- 
ed. In  his  character  of  Lord  of  the  Land,  he  is  what 
every  father  is  at  the  head  of  his  family :  just  as  the 
latter,  w^hen  he  pleases,  gives  ear  to  a  slave,  so  the 
khan  pays  attention  occasionally  to  the  words  of  a 
minister;  nor  is  there  any  barrier  to  the  capricious 
use  of  his  authority,  except  that  inspired  by  the  ule- 
mas,  when  these  have  at  their  head  such  men  as,  by 
their  learning  and  irreproachable  lives,  have  concili- 

*  A  mirab  is  the  same  as  the  Turkish  subashi,  a  functionary 
that  has  played  his  part  from  the  Chinese  frontier  to  the  Adri- 
atic, and  still  continues  to  do  so. 


384  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVII. 

ated  the  affection  of  the  people,  and  rendered  them- 
selves objects  of  dread  to  the  khan.  Matters  stand 
so  with  almost  all  the  governments  of  Asia,  but  this 
is  not  altogether  to  be  ascribed  to  the  defects  or  en- 
tire absence  of  forms  of  government.  No ;  in  all 
times,  and  in  all  epochs  of  history,  forms  intended 
for  controlling  the  tyrannical  and  capi»icious  exercise 
of  power  have  existed  in  theory,  and  have  only  re- 
mained inoperative  from  that  weakness  of  character 
and  that  deficiency  of  the  nobler  sentiments  in  the 
masses  at  large  which  have,  throughout  the  East,  ever 
favored,  as  they  still  continue  to  do,  every  crime  of 
the  sovereign. 

According  to  the  Khivan  Constitution,  which  is  of 
Mongol  origin,  he  is 

(1.)  Khan  or  padisha,  who  is  chosen  for  the  pur- 
pose from  the  midst  of  a  victorious  race.  At  his 
side  stand  the 

(2.)  Inag,'^"  four  in  number,  of  whom  two  are  the 
nearest  relatives  of  the  king,  and  the  two  others  mere- 
ly of  the  same  race.  One  of  the  farmer  is  always 
the  regular  governor  of  the  province  of  Hezaresp. 

(3.)  Nakib,  the  spiritual  chief,  must  alwaj^s  be  a 
Seid  (of  the  family  of  the  Prophet).  He  has  the 
same  rank  as  the  sheikh-iil-Islam  in  Constantino- 
ple, f 

(4.)  Bi,  not  to  be  confounded  with  bey,  with  which 
it  has  only  a  similar  verbal  meaning.  The  bi  is,  in 
the  battle,  always  at  the  right  hand  of  the  khan. 

*  The  literal  meaning  of  the  word  is  younger  brother. 
f  In  Constantinople  the  nakib-iil-eshref,  the  chief  of  the  Seids, 
is  in  rank  below  the  sheikh-tll-Islam. 


Chap.  XVII.  DIGNITARIES.  385 

(5.)  Atalik,  a  sort  of  councillor  of  state,  who  can 
only  be  Ozbegs,  and  whose  number  the  khan  can  fix. 

(G.)  Kushbcghi.* 

(7.)  Mehter,  a  sort  of  officer  who  has  the  charge  of 
the  internal  affairs  of  the  court  and  country.  The 
mehter  must  always  be  from  the  Sart  (ancient  Per- 
sian population  of  Khiva). 

(8.)  Yasaulbashi,  two  in  number,  principal  guards, 
whose  functions  are  those  of  introduction  at  the  arz 
(public  audience).  The  divan,  a  sort  of  secretary,  at 
the  same  time  accountant,  is  of  the  same  rank. 

(9.)  Mehrem,  also  two  in  number,  having  merely 
the  office  of  chamberlains  and  confidants,  yet  possess- 
ing great  influence  with  the  khan  and  his  government. 

(10.)  Minbashi,  commander  of  1000  horsemen. f 

(11.)  Yiizbashi,  commander  of  100  horsemen. 

(12.)  Onbashi,  commander  of  10  horsemen. 

These  twelve  divisions  form  the  class  of  officials, 
properly  so  called,  and  are  styled  Sipahi.  They  are 
also  divided  as  follows :  some  whom  the  khan  can 
not  remove  from  office,  some  who  have  a  fixed  sti- 
pend, and  the  rest  who  are  only  in  active  service  in 
time  of  war. 

The  high  officials  are  rewarded  with  lands,  and 
the  regular  troops  receive  from  the  khan  horses  and 
arms,  and  are  exempt  from  all  taxes  and  imposts. 

*  Yizir,  or  first  court  minister  of  the  khan :  with  him  begins 
the  "  corps"  of  ministers  properly  so  called,  holding  their  place 
at  the  will  of  the  ruler. 

f  The  collective  military  forces  of  the  Khan  of  Khiva  were 
computed,  I  was  told,  at  20,000  men,  but  this  number  can  be 
doubled  in  the  time  of  jjeril. 

Bb 


386  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVII. 

Thus  far  of  the  secular  officers. 

The  ulema  or  priests,  of  whom  the  nakib  is  the 
chief,  are  subdivided  as  follows : 

(1.)  Kazi  kelan,  superior  judge  and  chief  of  juris- 
diction throughout  the  khanat. 

(2.)  Kazi  ordu,  who  attends  the  khan  as  superior 
judge  in  his  campaigns. 

(3.)  Alera,  the  chief  of  the  five  muftis. 

(4. )  Reis,  who  is  insjDcctor  of  the  schools,  and  ex- 
ercises a  surveillance  over  the  administration  of  the 
laws  respecting  religion. 

(5. )  Mufti,  of  whom  there  is  one  in  every  consid- 
erable city. 

(6.)  Akhond,  professor  or  elementary  teacher. 

The  first  three  belong  to  the  higher  rank  of  offi- 
cials, and  on  entering  upon  their  functions  are  richly 
provided  for  by  the  khan.  The  three  others  draw 
their  stipends  from  the  vakf  (pious  foundations)  paid 
to  them  in  money  and  produce ;  but  it  is,  besides, 
the  usage  for  the  khan  to  make  them  certain  pres- 
ents every  year,  at  the  festivals  of  the  Kurban  and 
the  Noruz.  The  ulemas  of  Khiva  do  not  stand  in 
as  high  repute  for  learning  as  those  of  Bokhara,  but 
they  are  far  from  being  so  presumptuous  and  arro- 
gant as  the  latter ;  and  many  are  animated  by  a  sin- 
cere zeal  to  improve  their  countrymen  as  far  as  they 
can,  and  to  soften  the  rude  habits  contracted  by  con- 
stant wars. 

Taxes. 
In  Khiva  these  are  of  two  kinds  : 
(a)  Salgit,  corresponding  with  our  land-tax.     For 


Chap.  XVII.  TAXES.  387 

every  piece  of  ground  capable  of  cultivation,  measur- 
ing ten  tanab  (a  tanab  contains  sixty  square  ells), 
the  khan  receives  a  tax  of  eighteen  tenghe  (about  ten 
shillings).  From  this  the  following  are  exempt: 
the  warriors  (noker  or  atli),  the  ulemas,  and  khodja 
(descendants  from  the  Prophet). 

(6)  Zekiat  (customs),  in  accordance  with  which 
imported  wares  pay  2^  per  cent,  on  their  value, 
whereas  for  oxen,  camels,  and  horses*  a  tenghe  per 
head,  and  for  sheep  half  a  tenghe  per  head,  were  pay- 
able yearly. 

The  collection  of  the  salo;it  is  left  to  the  kushbeghi 
and  mehter,  who  make  circuits  for  the  purpose  every 
year  through  the  principal  districts,  and  hold  the 
yasholuf  responsible  for  the  collection  in  the  partic- 
ular departments. 

The  collection  of  the  zekiat  is  controlled  by  a  fa- 
vorite mehrem  of  the  khan,  who  visits,  attended  by  a 
secretary,  the  tribes  of  nomads ;  and  as  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  count  the  cattle,  he  every  year  taxes  each  tribe 
at  a  rate  fixed  after  negotiation  with  his  yasholu. 
Of  course,  in  this  operation,  the  principal  profit  finds 
its  way  into  the  sack  of  the  mehter ;  and  the  khan 
last  year  was  made  to  believe  that  the  Karakalpak 
had  only  6000  oxen,  and  the  Yorauts  and  Tchaudors 
only  3000  sheep  taxed  last  year,  which  was,  as  I 
heard,  only  a  third  of  the  truth. 

*  Only  those,  however,  are  obliged  to  pay  "who  have  more 
than  ten,  which  constitute  a  herd. 

f  "  The  great  of  age,"  as  the  graybeards  are  denominated  in 
Khiva. 


388  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVIL 

Justice. 
This  is  administered  in  the  mosques,  and  the  pri- 
vate dwellings  of  the  kazis  and  muftis,  on  whom  the 
jurisdiction  devolves.  But  every  individual  may 
prefer  his  complaint  before  the  governor  of  the  city 
or  the  province,  who  then  makes  his  decision  after 
urf  {L  e.,  as  it  seems  to  him  right).  Each  governor, 
and  even  the  khan  himself,  must  every  day  hold  a 
public  audience  of  at  least  four  hours'  duration,  a 
duty  the  neglect  of  which  illness  can  alone  excuse ; 
and  as  no  one  can  be  excluded,  the  ruler  is  often 
forced  to  listen  to  and  settle  even  the  pettiest  family 
differences  among  his  subjects.  I  have  been  told 
that  the  khan  finds  it  fine  sport  to  witness  the  quar- 
rels of  married  couples,  maddened  with  anger  which 
he  himself  takes  care  to  foment.  The  father  of  the 
country  is  obliged  to  hold  his  sides  for  laughter  to 
see,  sometimes,  man  and  wife  thrashing  each  other 
around  the  hall,  and  finally  falling  wrestling  in  the 
dust. 

C.  Khiva,  the  Khanat. 
The  Khanat  of  Khiva,  known  in  history  under  the 
name  of  Kharezm,*and  called  also  in  adjoining  coun- 
tries Urgendj,  is  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  deserts ; 
its  extreme  frontiers  to  the  southeast  are  formed  by 
the  city  of  Fitnek,  to  the  northwest  by  Kungrat  and 
Kohne  tlrgendj,  to  the  south  by  Medemin  and  Kok- 
tcheg.     Without  attempting  to  give  the  superficial 

*  Kharezm  is  a  Persian  word  signifying  warlike,  rejoicing  in 
war. 


Chap.  XVII.  KHIVA— KHANAT.  389 

measurement  of  the  land  occupied  by  fixed  settlers, 
or  ascertain  precisely  the  number  of  the  inhabitants, 
let  me  rather  content  myself  by  furnishing  as  com- 
plete a  description  as  circumstances  admit  of  the 
topography  of  the  khanat,  and  leave  the  geographer, 
if  so  disposed,  to  apply  himself  to  the  arithmetical 
calculation. 

But  we  may  with  less  hesitation  enlarge  upon  the 
extraordinary  fruitfulness  of  the  soil,  to  be  ascribed, 
not  so  much  to  appropriate  modes  of  cultivation,  as 
to  the  excellent  irrigation,  and  the  fertilizing  waters 
of  the  Oxus. 

Canals. 
These  in  Khiva  are  of  two  sorts — (a)  Arna,  those 
formed  by  the  river  itself,  which  have  from  time  to 
time  been  merely  widened  and  deepened  by  the  in- 
habitants ;  (6)  Yap,  canals  dug  to  a  width  of  one  or 
two  fathoms,  for  the  most  part  fed  from  the  arna. 
With  these  the  whole  of  the  land  that  is  under  cul- 
tivation is  covered,  as  with  a  net.  Among  the  arna 
deserve  particular  mention, 

1.  Hazreti  Pehlivan  Arnasi,  which  breaks  in  be- 
tween Fitnek  and  Hezaresj),  passes  before  Khiva, 
and  is  lost  in  the  sand  after  having  flowed  through 
Zey  and  the  district  of  the  Yomuts. 

2.  Gazavat  Arnasi  forms  a  break  between  Khanka 
and  Yenghi  Urgendj,  passes  also  to  the  west  before 
Gazavat,  and  loses  itself  in  the  territory  of  the  Yo- 
muts. 

3.  Shahbad  Arnasi  has  its  beginning  above  Yen- 
ghi Urgendj,  passes  by  Shabad  Tash-haus  and  Yil- 
lali,  and  disappears  at  Koktcheg. 


390  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.XVU. 

4.  Yarmish  Arnasi  breaks  in  opposite  Shahbaz 
Veli,  and  flows  through  the  districts  between  Kiat 
Kungrat  and  Yenghi  Urgendj. 

5.  Kilitchbay  Arnasi  separates  Khitai  and  Gorlen, 
goes  by  Yillali,  and  disappears  in  the  sand  behind 
Koktcheg. 

6.  Khodjaili  Arnasi.      On  the  farther  bank  are, 

7.  Shurakhan  Arnasi,  which  commences  from  the 
place  of  the  same  name,  and  disajDpears  to  the  north- 
east, after  having  watered  Yapkenary  and  Akkamish. 

8.  Iltazar  Khan  Arnasi,  which  traverses  the  land 
of  the  Karakalpak. 

Divisions. 
The  political  divisions  of  Khiva  correspond  with 
the  number  of  those  cities  having  particular  bay,  or 
governors,  this  entitling  them  to  the  name  of  sepa- 
rate districts.  At  this  present  moment  the  following 
divisions  subsist,  of  which  the  most  interesting  are 
Khiva,  the  capital,  Yenghi  Urgendj,  the  most  man- 
ufacturing, Kohne  Urgendj,  famous  for  having  long 
been  the  capital  of  the  khanat,  but  now  only  a  mis- 
erable village.  There  only  remain  of  its  former 
splendor  (a)  two  ruins  of  towers,  one  more  consider- 
able, the  other  smaller,  designed  in  the  same  massive 
style  as  the  other  towers  in  Central  Asia.  The  le- 
gend recounts  that  these  owe  their  demolition  to 
the  fury  of  the  Calmucks,  because  at  a  distance  they 
seemed  to  be  near,  yet  fly  before  the  approaching  as- 
sailants ;  {!))  the  dome  of  the  Torebegkhan,  inlaid 
with  tastefully  enameled  bricks ;  (c)  Mazlum  Khan 
Solugu. 


Chap.  XVII. 


KHIVA— KHANAT. 


391 


Principal  Toicns  or  Divisions,  loith  the  Villages  belonging  to 
them,  and  their  distance  from  the  Oxics. 


Distance  from 
Oxus. 


Villages. 


1.  Khiva      .    . 


Tash  or  Mile. 

6 


2.  Hezaresp     .    .    . 

] 

3.  Yenghi  ijrgenclj   . 

li 

4.  Kungrat  .... 

5.  Tash-haus    .     .     . 

Bank. 
6 

6.  Gorlen     .... 

1 

7.  Khodja  Hi   .     .     . 

2 

8.  Tchimbay    .     .     . 

9.  Shahbad  .... 

On  the  far- 
ther bank. 
4 

10.  Shurakhan    .     .     . 

On  the  op- 

11. Kilidj  bay    .     .     . 

posite  side 
4i 

To  the  West:  Bedrkhan, 
Kinik,  Akyap,  Khasian, 
Tashayak,  Tuyesitchti. 

To  the  South:  Sirtcheli, 
Shikhlar,  Rafenek  En- 
gerik,  Pesckenik,  Perna- 
kaz  Akmesdjid. 

To  the  East :  Sayat,  Kiat, 
Shikhbaghi,  Kettebag.     I 

To  the  North:  Gendum-{ 
ghiah,    Perishe,    Khalil, 
Neyzekhasz,  Gauk,Tcha- 
rakhshik,  Zirsheytan  Or- 
dumizan. 

Djengeti,Shikharik,Khod- 
jaLar  Himetbaba,  Bit- 
jaktchi,Ishanteshepe,Ba- 
gat,  ISTogman,  Besharik. 

Gaibuhi  Shabadboyu,Kut- 
chilar,  Oroslar,  Sabundji, 
Akhonbaba,  Karamaza 
Kiptchaklar. 

Kiet,  Nogai,  Sarsai',  Sakar. 

Kamishli  Kuk,  Kongrud- 
lar,  Karzalar  Yarmish 
boyu,  Bastirmah. 

Djelair,Yonushkali,Eshini, 
Vezir,  Alchin,  Bashkir, 
Tashkali,  Kargah. 

Ketmendji  Ata,  Djarnike 
Naymaular  ( in  the 
woods),  Kamishtchali 
Dervish  Khodja. 


Khodjalar,  Kefter  Khane, 
Kokkaraish. 


KlialimbegBagalanAlieli- 
boyu,  Bozjapboyu. 


392 


TRAVELS  IN  CENTKAL  ASIA. 


Chap.  XVII. 


Name. 

Distance  from 
Oxus. 

Villages. 

12.  Mangit    .... 

Tash  or  MUe. 
1 
2 

Permanatcha,  Kiatlar,  Ke- 
negoz. 

13.  Kiptcliak     .     .     . 

On  bank. 

BasuyapboyUjNogai  ishan 
Kandjirgali,  Kanlilar. 

14.  Khitai     .... 

H 

Akkum,Yomurlutam,Kul- 
aulu. 

15.  Ak      derbendand 

7 

Djamli  .... 
16.  Kiet 

2 

17.  Khanka  .... 

1 

Meder,  Godje,  Khodjalar, 
Shagallar. 

18.  Fitnek     .... 

2 

19.  Shabaz  Veli      .     . 

2 

20,  Djagatai .... 

21.  Ambar    .... 

4i 
5 

Bastirmali  Veyengankn 
I'eszi. 

22.  Yeughi  ya    .     .     . 

23.  Noks 

Opposite 
bank. 

Altchin,  Yezir. 

24.  Koktcheg    .     .     . 

9 

25.  Kohne  tlrgendj     . 

26.  Kiat  Kungrat  [be- 

6 
2 

tween  Gorlen  and 

Yenghi  tJrgendj] 
27.  Nokhasz  [between 

2 

Khanka  and  He- 

zaresp]  .... 
28.  Rahmetbirdi    beg 

Opposite 

[near  Oveis  Kar- 

bank. 

ayne   Mountain]. 
29.  Kangli     .... 

1 

30.  Yillali     [between 

8 

M  e  d  e  m  i  n    and 

Tash-hans]      ,     . 

31.  Koshkoptir  .     .     . 

32.  Gazavat  .... 

6 

D.  Products,  Manufactures,  and  Trade  of  Khiva. 

The  fertility  of  the  Khivan  soil  has  already  been 
several  times  mentioned ;  we  must,  however,  allude  to 
the  following  produce  as  especially  excellent :  corn ; 
rice,  particularly  that  from  Gorlen  ;   silk,  the  finest 


Chap.  XVII.  PRODUCTS.— TRADE.  393 

of  which  is  from  Shahbad  and  Yenghi  Urgendj  ;  cot- 
ton ;  ruyan,  a  kind  of  root,  prized  for  the  red  color 
extracted  from  it ;  and  fruits,  the  superior  merit  of 
which  not  Persia  and  Turkey  alone,  but  even  Europe 
itself,  would  find  it  difficult  to  contest.  I  particularly 
refer  to  the  apples  of  Hezaresp,  the  peach  and  pome- 
granate of  Khiva,  but,  above  all,  to  the  incomparable 
and  delicious  melons,  renowned  as  far  even  as  remote 
Pekin,  so  that  the  sovereign  of  the  Celestial  Empire 
never  forgets,  when  presents  flow  to  him  from  Chi- 
nese Tartary,  to  beg  for  some  Urkindji  melons.  Even 
in  Pussia  they  fetch  a  high  price,  for  a  load  of  winter 
melons  exported  thither  brings  in  return  a  load  of 
sugar. 

With  respect  to  Khivan  manufactures,  in  high  re- 
pute is  the  Urgendj  tchapani,  or  coat  from  Urgendj; 
the  material  is  a  striped  stuff  of  two  colors  (of  wool 
or  silk,  often  made  of  the  two  threads  mingled) ;  this 
is  cut  to  the  fashion  of  our  dressino:-2;owns.  Khiva 
is  also  renowned  for  its  articles  in  brass,  Hezaresp 
for  its  gowns,  and  Tash-haus  for  its  linens. 

The  principal  trade  is  with  Pussia.  Caravans, 
consisting  of  from  one  to  two  thousand  camels,  go 
to  Orenburg  in  spring,  and  to  Astrakhan  in  autumn, 
conveying  cotton,  silk,  skins,  coats  for  the  Nogai  Tar- 
tars, shagreen  leather,  and  fruits  to  the  markets  of 
Nishnei  (which  they  call  also  Makaria) ;  they  bring 
back  in  return  kettles  or  other  vessels  of  cast-iron 
(here  called  djoghen),  chintz  (the  kinds  used  by  us  to 
cover  furniture,  but  here  employed  for  the  fronts  of 
women's  shifts),  fine  muslin,  calicoes,  clothing,  sugar, 
iron,  guns  of  inferior  quality,  and  fancy  goods  in  small 


394  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVII. 

quantities.  There  is  a  great  export  trade  in  fish,  but 
the  Russians  have  their  own  fisheries,  which  are  pro- 
tected by  three  steamers,  stationed  on  the  Sea  of 
Aral,  and  which  navigate  as  far  as  Kungrat,  in  ac- 
cordance with  a  treaty  concluded  six  years  ago  by 
the  last  Russian  embassy  sent  to  Khiva.  With  Per- 
sia and  Herat*  the  trade  is  inconsiderable ;  the  rea- 
son is  that  the  routes  leading  thither  are.  occupied  by 
the  Turkomans.  Between  Khiva  and  Astrabad  the 
intercourse  is  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Yomuts, 
who  bring  with  them  every  year  100  or  150  camels, 
loaded  with  boxwood  (to  make  combs)  and  naphtha. 
With  Bokhara,  on  the  contrary,  more  important 
transactions  take  place.  They  export  thither  gowns 
and  linen,  and  receive  in  exchange  tea,  spices,  paper, 
and  light  fancy  goods,  there  manufactured.  For  the 
home  trade  they  hold  every  week,  in  each  city,  one  or 
two  markets ;  even  in  parts  confined  exclusively  to 
nomads,  and  where  houses,  as  such,  do  not  exist,  a 
market-place  (bazarli-djay),  consisting  of  one  or  more 
mud  huts,  is  constructed.  A  market  in  this  country 
assumes  the  appearance  of  a  fair  or  festival.  The 
Central  Asiatic  visits  it  often  from  a  distance  of  ten 
or  twenty  miles,  purchasing  perhaps  a  few  needles  or 
other  trifles ;  but  his  real  object  is  the  love  of  dis- 
play, for  on  such  occasions  he  mounts  his  finest  horse 
and  carries  his  best  weapons. 

*  In  Herat,  it  is  true,  and  in  its  environs,  the  Khiva  tchapani 
(coat  from  Khiva)  is  much  appreciated  and  bought  at  a  high 
price,  but  the  article  itself  reaches  them  through  Bokhara. 


396  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVII. 

E.  How  THE  Khanat  is  Peopled. 
Khiva  is  peopled  by,  1.  Ozbegs ;   2.  Turkomans ; 
3.  Karakalpak ;   4.  Kasak   (called  by   us  Kirghis) ; 
5.  Sart ;   6.  Persians. 

1.  Ozbegs. 

This  is  the  designation  of  a  people  for  the  most 
part  inhabiting  settled  abodes,  and  occupying  them- 
selves with  the  cultivation  of  the  earth.  They  ex- 
tend from  the  southern  point  of  the  Sea  of  Aral  as 
far  as  Komul  (distant  a  journey  of  forty  days  from 
Kashgar),  and  are  looked  upon  as  the  prominent 
race  in  the  three  knanats.  According  to  their  divi- 
sions, they  fall  into  thirty-two  principal  taife  (tribes).  ■■"•' 

This  division  is  old,  but  it  is  very  remarkable  that 
even  these  particular  tribes  are  scattered  almost  in- 
discriminately over  the  ground  above  mentioned,  and 
it  seems  astonishing,  and,  indeed,  almost,  incredible, 
that  Ozbegs  of  Khiva,  Khokand,  and  Yerkend,  differ- 
ing in  language,  customs,  and  physiognomy,  repre- 
sent themselves  nevertheless  as  members  not  only  of 
one  and  the  same  nation,  but  of  the  very  same  tribe 
or  clan. 

I  will  here  only  remark  that  in  Khiva  most  of  the 
tribes  have  representatives,  and  the  Khivite  has  a 

*  As,  l.Kungrat;  2.  Kiptchak ;  3.  Khitai;  4.  Manghit;  5. 
Noks;  6.  Nayman;  7.  Kulan;  8.  Kiet;  9.  Az;  10.  Taz;  11. 
Sayat;  12.  Djagatai;  13.  Uygur;  14.  Akbet;  15.  Dormeu;  16. 
Oshtin;  17.  Kandjigaly ;  18.  Nogai;  19.  Balgali;  20.  Miten;  21. 
Djelair;  22.  Kenegoz;  23.  Kauli;  24.  Ichkili ;  25.  Bagurlii;  26. 
Altchin ;  27.  Atchmayli ;  28.  Karakursak;  29.  Birkulak;  30. 
Tyrkysh;  31.  Kettekeser;  32.  Ming. 


Chap.  XVII.  MUSIC  AND  NATIONAL  POETS.  397 

legitimate  pride  in  the  purity  of  his  ancient  Ozbeg 
nationality,  as  contrasted  with  that  of  Bokhara  and 
Kashgar.  At  the  very  first  sight,  however,  the  Khi- 
van  Ozbeg  betrays  the  mixture  of  his  blood  with  the 
Iran  elements,  for  he  has  a  beard,  always  to  be  re- 
garded in  the  Turanis  as  a  foreign  peculiarity,  but  his 
complexion  and  form  of  countenance  indicate  very 
often  o:enuine  Tartar  orisiin.  Even  in  the  traits  of 
his  character  the  Khivan  Ozbeg  is  preferable  to  his 
relatives  in  the  other  races.  He  is  honest  and  open- 
hearted,  and  has  the  savage  nature  of  the  nomads 
that  surround  him  without  the  refined  cunning  of 
Oriental  civilization.  He  ranks  next  to  the  pure 
Osmanli  of  Turkey,  and  it  may  be  said  of  both  that 
something  may  still  be  made  out  of  them. 

Khiva  is  less  instructed  in  the  doctrine  of  Islam- 
ism  than  Bokhara,  a  circumstance  that  has  had  much 
influence  in  producing  the  following  result:  the  re- 
tention by  the  Khivan  Ozbeg  not  only  of  many  of 
the  national  usages  of  heathenism,  but  also  of  the  re- 
ligious observances  of  the  Parsees.  A  predilection 
in  favor  of  music  and  the  national  poetry  of  the 
Turks,  more  passionately  cultivated  by  the  nomads 
of  Central  Asia  than  by  any  civilized  nation,  has 
been  here  more  strictly  maintained  than  in  Khokand, 
Bokhara,  and  Kashgar.  The  Khivan  players  on  the 
dutar  (a  guitar  Avith  two  strings)  and  koboz  (lute) 
are  in  high  renown  throughout  all  Turkestan ;  and 
not  only  is  Nevai,  the  greatest  of  the  Ozbeg  poets, 
familiar  to  every  one,  but  no  ten  years  elapse  with- 
out the  appearance  of  lyrists  of  the  second  or  third 
rank.    I  became  acquainted  in  Khiva  with  two  broth- 


398  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVII. 

ers ;  one,  Munis,  wrote  excellent  poems,  of  which  it 
is  my  purpose  later  to  publish  several,  and  the  other, 
Mirab,  had  the  extraordinary  patience  to  translate 
into  the  Ozbeg-Turkish  dialect  the  great  historical 
work  of  Mirkhond,  to  render  it  more  accessible  to  his 
son,  who  was  nevertheless  acquainted  with  Persian. 
The  work  employed  him  twenty  years,  but  he  was 
ashamed  to  communicate  the  fact  to  any  one,  for  a 
man  who  busies  himself  with  any  other  branch  of 
learning  than  religion  is  there  regarded  as  a  very  su- 
perficial person. 

Many  centuries  have  elapsed  since  their  first  set- 
tlement, and  yet  the  Khivan  customs  still  retain  the 
impress  of  the  early  heroic  age.  Mimic  battles, 
wrestling,  and  particularly  horse-races,  occur  frequent- 
ly. In  the  latter  very  brilliant  prizes  await  the  win- 
ners. Every  wedding  of  distinction  is  honored  by  a 
race  of  9,  19,  29,  which  means  that  the  winner  re- 
ceives from  the  giver  of  the  festival,  of  all  or  part 
of  his  property,  9,  19,  29 — for  instance,  9  sheej),  19 
goats,  and  so  on ;  these  often  yield  him  a  considera- 
ble sum.  Smaller  races  of  less  importance  consist 
of  what  is  styled  Kokbiiri  (green  wolf),  of  which  we 
have  already  spoken  when  treating  of  the  Turko- 
mans. There  are  festivals  and  sports  in  Khiva 
which  have  been  handed  down  from  the  primitive 
inhabitants,  who  were  fire-worshipers :  they  once  ex- 
isted in  other  parts  of  Central  Asia  before  the  intro- 
duction of  Islam,  but  they  are  at  the  present  day 
quite  forgotten. 


Chap.  XVII.  KHANAT,  HOW  PEOPLED.  399 

2.  Turkomans. 

Of  these  we  have  already  spoken  at  large.  There 
are  in  Khiva  (a)  Yomuts  who  inhabit  the  borders 
of  the  desert  from  Kohne  to  Gazavat,  the  district  of 
Karayilghin,  Koktcheg,  Ozbegyap,  Bedrkend,  and 
Medemin.  (6)  Tchaudor,  who  wander  about  also  in 
the  land  around  Kohne,  namely,  near  Kizil  Takir, 
and  Porsu,  but  more  to  the  west,  in  the  country  be- 
tween the  Aral  and  Caspian  Seas.  Of  Goklen  there 
are  very  few. 

3.  Karakalpak. 

These  inhabit  the  farther  bank  of  the  Oxus,  oppo- 
site Gorlens,  far  away  up  close  to  Kungrat,  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  extensive  forests,  where  they  occupy  them- 
selves with  the  breeding  of  cattle ;  they  Tiave  few 
horses  and  hardly  any  sheep.  The  Karakalpak  pique 
themselves  upon  possessing  the  most  beautiful  wom- 
en in  Turkestan ;  but,  on  the  other  side,  they  are 
themselves  described  as  being  the  greatest  idiots,  and 
I  have  heard  many  anecdotes  confirming  this  asser- 
tion.* 

Their  number  is  computed  at  10,000  tents.  From 
time  out  of  mind  they  have  been  subject  to  Khiva. 
Forty  years  ago  they  rebelled  under  their  leader  Ay- 
dost,  who  invaded  Kungrat,  but  were,  at  a  later  date, 

*  Of  this  nation  I  have  found  ten  principal  tribes : 

1.  Baymakli.  5.  Kaytchili  Khitai.  8.  Toraboyuu. 

2.  Khandekli.  6.  Ingakli.  9.  Shakoo. 

3.  Terstamgali.  1.  Kenegoz.  10.  Ontonturtik. 

4.  AtchamayU. 


400  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVII. 

defeated  by  Mehemmed  Reliim  Khan.  Eight  years 
have  hardly  elapsed  since  they  rose  again  under  their 
chief  Zarlig,  who  is  said  to  have  had  under  him  20, 000 
horsemen,  and  to  have  committed  great  devastations 
until  they  were  utterly  routed  and  dispersed  by  Kut- 
lug  Murad.  Their  last  insurrection  took  place  three 
years  ago,  under  Er  Nazar,  who  built  himself  a  strong- 
hold, but  was  nevertheless  overcome. 

4.  Kasah  (Kirghis). 
Of  these,  very  few  remain  subject  to  Khiva,  they 
having,  in  recent  times,  for  the  most  part  fallen  un- 
der the  dominion  of  Russia.  We  shall  S2:>eak  more 
fully  of  this  great  nomadic  nation  of  Central  Asia 
when  we  come  to  treat  of  Bokhara. 

•  5.  Sart 

These  are  called  Tadjik  in  Bokhara  and  Khokand, 
and  are  the  ancient  Persian  population  of  Kharezm. 
Their  number  here  is  small.  They  have,  by  degrees, 
exchanged  their  Persian  language  for  the  Turkish. 
The  Sart  is  distinguishable,  not  less  than  the  Tadjik, 
by  his  crafty,  subtle  manners.  He  is  no  great  favor- 
ite with  the  Ozbeg,  and  in  spite  of  the  Sart  and  Oz- 
beg  having  lived  five  centuries  together,  very  few 
mixed  marriages  have  taken  place  between  them. 

6.  Persians. 

These  are  either  slaves,  of  whom  there  are  about 

40,000,  or  freed  men,  besides  a  small  colony  in  Ak- 

derbend  and  Djamli.     In  other  respects,  as  far  as 

material  existence  is  concerned,  the  slave  in  Khiva  is 


Chap.  XVII.  EECENT  HISTORY  OF  KHIVA.  4OI 

not  badly  off.  Craftier  than  the  plain  straightfor- 
ward Ozbeg,  he  soon  enriches  himself,  and  many  pre- 
fer, after  having  purchased  their  freedom,  to  settle  in 
the  country  rather  than  return  to  Persia.  The  slave 
is  styled  in  Khiva  dogma,  and  his  offspring  khanezad 
(house-born).  The  blemish  of  the  captivity  to  Avhich 
he  has  been  subjected  is  only  effaced  in  the  third  gen- 
eration. 

r.  Materials  for  a  History  of  ELhiva  in  the 

19th  Century. 

1.  Mehemmed  E^nin  Inag. 

On  the  sudden  retreat  of  Nadir  Shah,*  who  had, 
without  a  blow,  rendered  himself  master  of  the  kha- 
nat,  the  Kirghis  of  the  small  horde  (or  Ustyurt  Kaza- 
ghi,  or  Kasaks  of  the  Upper  Yurt,  as  they  style  them- 
selves) took  the  lead  of  affairs  in  Khiva.  They  ruled 
until  the  end  of  the  last  century,  at  which  time  an 
Ozbeg  chieftain  of  the  tribe  of  Konrad  rose  and  laid 
claim  to  the  throne.  His  name  was  Mehemmed 
Emin  Inag  (1792-1800),  by  which  title  he  meant  to 
express  his  descent  from  the  last  Ozbeg  family  that 
had  reigned.  He  succeeded  in  getting  together  a 
small  army,  and  marched  against  the  Kasak  prince. 
But  the  latter,  who  was  still  in  considerable  force, 
defeated  his  adversary  several  times,  till  he  finally 
fled  to  Bokhara,  where  he  lived  some  years  in  retire- 
ment. His  partisans,  however,  continued  the  strug- 
gle until  they  gained  several  advantages ;  they  then 
dispatched  a  deputation  of  forty  horsemen  to  inform 

*  After  he  had,  in  1740,  conquered  Yolbarz  (Lion)  Shah,  and  a 
few  months  later  had  retired  to  Kelat. 

Co 


402  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Cuap.XVU. 

Mehemmed  Emin,  whereupon  that  prince  returned 
and  again  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  affairs,  and 
this  time  with  better  result,  for  he  drove  away  the 
Kasaks.  Mounting  the  throne,  he  became  the  found- 
er of  the  present  reigning  family,  who  were  his  suc- 
cessors, in  an  unbroken  order  of  succession,  as  shown 
in  the  accompanying  genealogical  account. 

2.  Iltazar  Khan  (1800-1804). 
This  prince  made  war  with  Bokhara  because  the 
latter  supported  the  sinking  power  of  the  Kasaks. 
While  he  was  occupied  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Chardjuy,  the  Yomuts,  at  the  instigation  of  the  Bok- 
hariots,  dashed  upon  Khiva  and  got  possession  of 
the  city,  and  plundered  it  under  the  guidance  of  their 
chief,  Tapishdeli.  Iltazar,  endeavoring  to  return  with 
rapidity,  was,  in  his  retreat,  routed  by  the  Bokhari- 
ots,  and  died  in  flight  in  the  waters  of  the  Oxus. 
He  was  succeeded  on  the  throne  by  his  son, 

3.  Mehemmed  Rehim  (1804-1826), 
called  also  Medrehim.  He  lost  no  time  in  turning 
his  arms  against  the  Yomuts,  drove  them  out  of  the 
cajDital,  and  made  them  richly  atone  for  the  booty 
they  had  taken.  Equal  success  attended  him  in  his 
dealings  with  the  Karakalpaks.  These,  led  by  Aj- 
dost,  resisted  him  at  first,  but  he  compelled  them  to 
submit.  He  was  not  so  fortunate  in  his  attack  upon 
Kungrat,  where  one  of  his  relatives  contested  the 
throne  with  him.  The  struggle  lasted  17  years.  It 
is  remarkable  that  he  continued,  during  the  whole  of 
this  time,  the  siege  of  the  above-named  city ;   and  the 


Chap.  XVII. 


KHANS  AND  THEIR  GENEALOGY. 


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4:04:  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASLi.  Chap.  XVII. 

« 

obstinate  defender,  laughing  at  all  the  efforts  of  the 
enemy,  called  out  to  him,  it  is  said,  one  day  from  the 
top  of  the  tower,  "  Utch  ay  savun  (three  months  sour 
milk),  litch  a  kavun  (three  months  melons),  litch  ay 
kabak  (three  months  pumpkins),  litch  a  tchabak"" 
(three  months  fish) ;  meaning  thereby  that  he  had 
food  for  the  four  seasons  of  the  year,  which  he  could 
procure  within  the  precincts  of  the  city  ;  that  he  had 
no  occasion  for  bread,  and  that  he  could  last  a  long 
time  without  being  reduced  by  famine. 

To  revenge  the  death  of  his  father,  Medrehim 
marched  against  Bokhara,  where,  at  that  time.  Emir 
Seid,  a  weak-minded  prince  who  assumed  the  dervish 
character,  held  the  reins  of  government.  The  Khi- 
vites  devastated  many  cities  up  to  the  very  gates  of 
Bokhara,  making  numerous  prisoners.  The  emir 
was  informed,  and  he  exclaimed,  "Akhir  Bighistan 
amandur!"  which  means  that  he  had  still  a  place  of 
security,  Bighistan,*  and  that  he  had  no  occasion  to 
fear.  After  having  committed  great  ravages,  Medre- 
him returned  laden  with  spoil.  Toward  the  close  of 
his  reign,  he  reduced  to  subjection,  at  Astrabad,  the 
Tekke  and  the  Yomuts. 

4.  Allah  Kuli  Khan  (1826-1841). 
This  prince  inherited  from  his  father  a  well-filled 
hazne  (treasury),  as  well  as  powerful  influence  among 
the  neighboring  nations.  His  anxiety  to  preserve  it 
involved  him  in  several  wars.  In  Bokhara  the  fee- 
ble Seid  had  been  succeeded  by  the  energetic  Nasr 
Ullah,  who,  seeking  to  avenge  the  disgraceful  defeat 
*  A  place  of  public  resort  in  the  city  of  Bokhara. 


Chap.  XVII.  RECENT  HISTORY  OF  KHIVA.  405 

of  his  father,  began  a  war  in  which  the  Khivan  crown 
prince  was  routed. 

At  the  time  the  news  arrived  that  the  Russians 
were  marching  from  Orenburg  upon  Khiva,  and  that 
the  hostility  of  the  Emir  of  Bokhara,  was  only  owing 
to  the  instigations  of  the  unbelievers,  the  consterna- 
tion was  great,  for  it  was  reported  that  the  Muscovite 
force  amounted  to  more  than  eighty  thousand  men, 
with  a  hundred  cannon ;  and  as  they  had  waited 
long  in  the  vain  hope  of  receiving  help  from  the 
"Inghiliz"  in  Herat,  the  khan  dispatched  about  ten 
thousand  horsemen,  led  by  Khodja  Niyazbay,  against 
the  Russians,  who  had  already  forced  their  way  from 
the  Ughe  plain  as  far  as  the  Lake  of  Atyolu,  six 
miles  distant  from  Kungrat.  The  Khivites  recount 
that  they  surprised  the  enemy,  and  that  such  a 
slaughter  ensued  as  is  seldom  heard  of  Many  were 
made  prisoners ;  and  in  Kungrat  two  Russians  were 
pointed  out  to  me  who  had  remained  behind  from 
that  campaign  as  prisoners,  had  afterward  become 
public  converts  to  Islamism,  and  had,  in  consequence, 
been  set  free  by  the  khan,  who  had  loaded  them  with 
presents :  they  had  even  contracted  marriages  there.* 

After  the  victory  the  khan  had  raised  intrench- 

*  The  above  is  the  version  of  the  aiFair  accordiug  to  the  Khi- 
vites themselves.  It  is,  however,  well  known  that  the  expedi- 
tion that  marched  against  Khiva,  under  the  command  of  General 
Perowszky,  consisted  of  only  from  ten  to  twelve  thousand  men. 
The  principal  cause  of  the  Russian  disaster  was  unquestionably 
the  severe  cold ;  still,  a  battle  did  actually  take  place,  and  the 
Ozbegs,  to  whom  Captain  Abbot  ascribes  so  much  cowardice, 
did  inflict  considerable  injury  upon  the  corps  of  occupation  after 
it  bad  fallen  into  disorder. 


406  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVIL 

merits  in  the  neighborhood  of  Dovkara,  on  both 
sides.  The  garrisons  of  these  were  placed  under  the 
control  of  Khodja  Niyazbay.  These,  however,  have 
been  abandoned,  and  have  remained  in  ruins  for  the 
last  ten  years.  To  return  thanks  to  God  for  the 
happy  termination  of  the  war  with  the  Russians, 
AUahkuli  founded  a  medresse  (college),  which  he 
richly  endowed. 

On  the  other  side  the  war  with  Bokhara  contin- 
ued; the  Goklens  were  also  subdued,  and  a  great 
number  of  them  sent  to  colonize  Khiva.  It  is  an 
old  but  singular  custom  in  this  country,  that  a  whole 
tribe  is  taken  altogether  and  forced  to  submit  to  a 
transportation  which  transfers  them  to  Khiva  itself; 
there  they  receive  every  possible  succor,  and  as  their 
own  feelings  of  animosity  continue  to  exist,  there  is 
no  difficulty  in  maintaining  over  them  a  close  sur- 
veillance. 

5.  Rehim  Kuli  Khan  (1841-1843). 
This  prince  succeeded  to  his  father,  and  immedi- 
ately found  that  he  had  enough  to  do  with  the  Djem- 
shidi,  a  Persian  tribe  inhabiting  the  eastern  bank  of 
the  Murgab,  of  whom  the  Khivites  had  taken  10,000 
tents  with  their  chiefs,  and  had  settled  there  as  a 
colony  on  the  bank  of  the  Oxus,  near  Kilidj  bay. 
On  the  other  side,  the  Sarik,  at  that  time  masters  of 
Merv,  began  hostilities  with  the  Ozbegs.  The  young- 
er brother  of  the  khan,  Medemin  Inag,  was  sent 
ao-ainst  them  with  15,000  horsemen;  but  on  the 
dreadful  journey  between  Khiva  and  Merv,  many 
soldiers  fell  sick.     As  the  Emir  of  Bokhara  was  at 


Chap.  XVII.  RECENT  HISTORY  OF  KHIVA.  407 

the  same  time  besieging  the  city  of  Hezaresp,  the 
inag  turned  his  arms  quickly  against  the  latter,  de- 
feated him,  and  then  concluded  a  peace.  About  this 
time  died  Kehim  Kuli  Khan,  and 

6.  Mehemmed  Emin  Khan  (1843-1855) 
seized  the  reins  of  government,  to  which  not  perhaps 
the  law  of  inheritance  (for  the  deceased  khan  left 
sons),  but  his  former  services,  gave  him  a  good  claim. 
Mehemmed  Emin  Khan  is  regarded  as  the  most  glo- 
rious monarch  that  Khiva  can  boast  in  modern  times, 
for  he  restored  to  the  kino-dom  of  Kharezm,  wherever 
possible,  its  ancient  liniits  which  it  had  lost  400  years 
before  ;  and  at  the  same  time,  by  the  subjection  of  all 
the  nomads  in  the  surrounding  country,  he  raised  the 
reputation  of  the  khanat,  and  considerably  increased 
its  revenues. 

Two  days  had  not  elapsed  after  his  having  been 
raised  to  the  white  felt* — a  proceeding  tantamount 
in  Khiva  and  Khokand  to  accession  to  the  throne — 
when  he  marched  in  person  against  the  Sarik,  the 
bravest  of  all  the  Turkoman  tribes  ;  for  he  longed  to 
bring  under  his  sceptre  the  fruitful  plain  of  Merv. 
After  six  campaigns  he  succeeded  in  capturing  the 
citadel  of  Merv,  as  well  as  another  fortress,  called 
Yoloten,  in  the  same  vicinity.  Scarcely  had  he  got 
back  to  Khiva  when  the  Sarik  again  rose  in  rebel- 
lion, and  put  to  the  sword  the  officer'left  in  command 
at  Merv,  witli  the  whole  garrison.     A  new  campaign 

*  The  enacting  of  this  ceremonial,  I  was  told,  has  been  ever 
since  the  time  of  Djenghis  Khan,  and  still  is,  the  exclusive  privi- 
lege of  the  graybcards  of  the  tribe  of  Djagatai. 


408  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVII. 

was  commenced  with  great  rapidity,  in  which  the 
Djemshidi,  old  enemies  of  the  Sarik,  also  took  part, 
and,  led  on  by  their  chief  Mir  Mehemmed,  were  con- 
querors, and,  to  the  chagrin  and  vexation  of  all  the 
Ozbeg  heroes,  made  their  triumphal  entry  into  Khiva. 

The  Sarik  was  consequently  reduced  to  subjection  ; 
nevertheless,  the  Tekke,  who  at  that  time  dwelt  in 
Karayap  and  Kabukli,  between  Merv  and  Akhal, 
evincing  feelings  of  hostility  by  refusing  the  payment 
of  their  yearly  tribute,  Medemin  saw  himself  forced 
again  to  use  a  sword,  still  reeking  with  Turkoman 
blood,  against  another  of  these  tribes.  After  three 
campaigns,  during  which  many  men  and  animals 
perished  in  the  sandy  desert,  the  khan  succeeded  in 
overpowering  a  part  of  the  insurgents,  and  left  a  gar- 
rison composed  of  Yomuts  and  Ozbegs,  under  their 
two  leaders,  to  keep  them  in  check.  By  mishap,  dif- 
ferences broke  out  between  the  chieftains ;  the  lead- 
er of  the  Yomuts  returned  to  Khiva,  and  was  there 
hurled  down,  by  order  of  the  offended  khan,  from  the 
top  of  a  lofty  tower. 

This  act  made  all  the  Yomuts  enemies  of  Mehem- 
med Emin ;  allying  themselves  secretly  with  the 
Tekke,  they  were,  a  little  later,  the  cause  of  his  death. 
At  this  time  Medemin  had  collected  a  force  of  40,000 
horsemen,  consisting  of  Ozbegs  and  other  tributary 
nomads ;  of  these  he  dispatched  a  part  against  the 
Russians,  who  were  then  aj^proaching  Khiva,  and 
raarchins:  from  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Sea  of  Aral 
upon  the  intrenchments  of  Khodja  Niyazbay.  He 
proceeded  with  the  rest  of  his  forces  to  Merv,  with 
the  intention  of  putting  an  end  by  a  decisive  blow  to 


Chap.  XVII.  EECENT  HISTORY  OF  KHIVA.  409 

the  never-ceasing  disorders  among  the  Turkomans. 
He  speedily  took  Karayap,  and  was  preparing  to  as- 
sail Sarakhs  (the  ancient  Syrinx),  when  one  day, 
while  resting  in  his  tent,  pitched  on  a  hill  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  Merv,*  in  the  very  centre  of  his  camp,  he 
was  surprised  by  some  daring  hostile  horsemen,  and 
in  spite  of  his  cry,  "Men  hazret  em"  (I  am  the  khan), 
his  head  was  struck  off,  without  any  of  his  retinue 
having  had  time  to  hasten  to  his  rescue.  At  the 
sight  of  the  severed  head,  which  the  Turkomans  sent 
as  a  present  to  the  Shah  of  Persia,*  a  panic  seized 
his  troops,  who  retired  nevertheless  in  good  order, 
and,  while  on  their  way,  called  to  the  throne 

7.  Abdullah  Khan  (1855-6). 
Scarcely  had  this  prince  reached  the  alarmed  capi- 
tal when  differences  arose  respecting  the  right  to  the 
throne,  and  Seid  Mehemmed  Tore,  a  claimant  who 
had  some  preferable  right  from  seniority,  drew  his 
sword  in  the  presence  of  all  the  mollahs  and  great 
personages,  and  avowed  his  intention  to  make  good 
his  claim  by  immediately  striking  the  khan  dead.  He 
was  first  pacified,  and  afterward  placed  in  confine- 

*  With  respect  to  this  hill,  we  are  told  that  it  was  here  also 
that  Ebu  Muslim,  the  mighty  vassal  and  afterward  enemy  of  the 
Khalifs  of  Bagdad,  met  with  his  death. 

f  The  shah,  who  had  reason  to  dread  Medemin — for,  after  the 
fall  of  Sarakhs,  he  would  certainly  have  assailed  Meshed — re- 
spected the  gory  head  of  his  enemy,  and  had  a  small  chapel  built 
for  it  before  the  gate  (D.  Dowlet).  But  he  afterward  had  it  de- 
molished because  it  was  said  that  pious  Shiites  might  mistake  it 
for  the  tomb  of  an  iraamzade,  a  holy  Shiite,  and  it  might  so  give 
occasion  to  a  sinful  act. 


410  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVII. 

ment.  The  Yomuts,  on  their  side,  had  gained  over 
two  princes  with  the  intent  to  place  them  on  the 
throne ;  but  their  intrigue  was  discovered  while  it 
was  yet  time;  the  unfortunate  princes  were  strangled; 
and  as  for  the  Yomuts,  their  criminality  being  plain 
to  all,  it  was  determined  to  punish  them.  The  khan 
advanced  ao;ainst  them  at  the  head  of  a  few  thousand 
horsemen  ;  but  the  Yomuts  protesting  their  inno- 
cence, and  their  graybeards,  with  naked  swords  sus- 
pended from  their  necks  (symbolizing  their  submis- 
sion), coming  barefooted  to  meet  him,  they  were  this 
time  forgiven.  Two  months  later,  the  tribe  again  be- 
ginning to  show  hostile  sentiments,*  the  khan  became 
incensed,  assembled  in  great  haste  2000  horsemen, 
and  attacked  the  Yomuts,  "vvho  were  in  open  rebel- 
lion. The  affair  terminated  unfortunately.  The  Oz- 
begs  were  put  to  flight ;  and  when  a  search  was  made 
for  the  khan  it  was  found  that  he  was  among  the  first 
that  had  fallen,  and  that  his  body  had  been  thrown 
with  the  others,  without  distinction  of  person,  into  a 
common  grave.  They  named  as  his  successor  his 
younger  brother, 

8.  Kutlug  Murad  Khan  (reigned  three  months  only). 
He  had  fought  at  the  side  of  the  late  khan,  and 
was  returning  covered  with  wounds.  He  soon  arm- 
ed afresh  to  continue  the  struo-o-le  that  had  cost  his 
brother  his  life,  when  the  chiefs  of  the  Yomuts  made 
overtures  of  peace,  with  the  promise  that  they  would 
appear  in  Khiva  to  do  homage,  and  bring  with  them 
the  cousin  of  the  khan,  who  had  fallen  into  their 
hands  in  the  last  engagement,  and  whom  thej^  had 
proclaimed  khan. 


Chap.  XVII.  RECENT  HISTOKY  OF  KHIVA.  411 

Kutlug  Murad  and  his  ministers  put  faith  in  these 
professions.  The  day  was  fixed  for  their  appearance, 
when  they  ap2:)eared  accordingly,  but  Avith  a  force  of 
12,000  men,  and  bringing  with  them  their  best  horses 
and  arms  of  parade.  On  the  morning  of  the  pres- 
entation the  khan  receit^d  his  cousin,  and  the  latter, 
while  in  the  act  of  embracing  him,  treacherously 
stabbed  the  sovereign  with  his  poniard.  The  khan 
fell  to  the  ground,  and  the  Turkomans  rushed  upon 
the  royal  servants  who  were  present.  During  the 
consternation  that  prevailed  the  mehter  ascended  the 
wall  of  the  citadel,  and,  announcing  from  the  battle- 
ments the  atrocious  crime,  called  upon  the  Khivit^ 
to  put  to  death  all  the  Yomuts  within  the  walls  of 
the  city.  The  incensed  populace  attacked  the  Tur- 
komans, who,  paralyzed  by  fear,  offered  no  resistance. 
They  fell,  not  only  by  the  weapons  of  Khivites,  but 
even  by  the  knives  of  the  Avomen.  The  streets  of 
Khiva  ran  literally  with  blood,  and  it  took  six  days' 
labor  to  dispose  of  the  dead  bodies. 

For  a  period  of  eight  days  after  this  butchery 
Khiva  remained  without  a  sovereign.  The  crown 
was  tendered  to  the  formerly  capable  Seid  Mehemmed 
Tore ;  but  his  passionate  fondness  for  the  indulgence 
of  the  intoxicating  opium  was  an  obstacle,  and  he 
abdicated  his  rights  in  favor  of  his  younger  brother, 

9.  Seid  Mehemmed  Khan  (1856 — still  reigning). 

The  incapacity  of  this  prince  is  well  known,  and 
the  reader  has  seen  many  instances  of  it.  During 
this  reign  Khiva  has  been  much  devastated  by  the 
civil  war  with  the  Yomuts,  and  colonies  founded  by 


412  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASLA.  Chap.  XVH. 

the  previous  khans  have  been  ruined  and  unpeopled. 
While  Yomuts  and  Ozbegs  were  thus  destroying  one 
another,  and  hurrying  off  mutually  their  women  and 
children  to  slavery,  the  Djemshidi  making  their  way 
in,  according  to  the  proverb, "  Inter  duos  litigantes 
tertius  est  gaudens,"  and  assailing  the  unarmed  pop- 
ulation, plundered  the  whole  of  Khiva  from  Kitsdj 
baj  to  Fitnek,  and,  richly  laden  with  spoil,  and  ac- 
companied by  2000  Persian  slaves,  who  had  freed 
themselves  in  the  confusion,  returned  to  the  banks  of 
the  Murgab. 

Poverty,  cholera,  pestilence,  and  depopulation  led 
flecessarily  to  a  peace ;  then  a  pretender  to  the 
throne,  supported  by  Russian  influence,  named  Me- 
hemmed  Penah,  unfurled  the  banner  of  revolution, 
and  dispatched  an  embassy  by  Manghischlak  to  As- 
trakhan to  implore  the  protection  of  the  Russian 
padishah.  The  intrigue  took  wind,  and  the  envoys 
were  put  to  death  on  their  way.  Later,  however, 
when  the  Russian  imperials  (gold  pieces)  had  been 
expended,  Mehemmed  Penah  was  murdered  by  his 
own  partisans,  and  the  ringleaders  were  formed  into 
parcels  (that  is  to  say,  they  had  their  hands  bound 
to  their  body  with  wetted  leather),  and  were  so  for- 
warded to  Khiva,  where  a  cruel  end  awaited  them. 


Chap.  XVIII.      THE  CITY  OF  BOKHARA.— GATES.  413 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE     CITY     OF     BOKHARA. 

CITY  OP  BOKHARA,  ITS  GATES,  QUARTERS,  MOSQUES,  COLLEGES. — ONE  FOUNDED 
BY   CZARINA   CATHARINE. — FOUNDED  AS  SEMINARIES,  NOT  OF  LEARNING,  BUT 

FANATICISM. BAZARS.  POLICE    SYSTEM    SEVERER    THAN    ELSEWHERE    IN 

ASIA. THE    KHANAT    OF    BOKHARA. — INHABITANTS:     OZBEGS,  TADJIKS,  KIR- 

GHIS,  ARABS,  MEKVI,  PERSIANS,  HINDOOS,  JEWS. GOVERNMENT. DIFFER- 
ENT OFFICIALS. — POLITICAL  DIVISIONS. — ARMY. — SUMMARY  OF  THE  HISTO- 
RY  OF   BOKHARA. 


"...  rerjnata  Cyro 
Bactra  .  .  .  Tanaisque  discors.'^ 

Horace,  Ode  iii.,  29,  27-8. 


The  circumference  of  Bokhara,  represented  to  me 
as  a  day's  journey,  I  found  actually  not  more  than 
four  miles.  The  environs,  though  tolerably  well  cul- 
tivated, are  in  this  respect  faj["  inferior  to  the  country 
around  Khiva. 

Bokhara  has  eleven  gates,*  and  is  divided  into  two 
principal  parts,  Deruni  Shehr  (inner  city),  and  Beru- 
ni  Shehr  (outer  city) ;  and  into  several  quarters,  the 
chief  of  which  are  Mahallei  Djuybar,  Khiaban,  Mire- 
kan,  Malkushan,  Sabungiran.  Although  we  have  giv- 
en the  reader,  in  a  preceding  chapter,  some  idea  of 
the  great  buildings  and  public  places,  we  will  here  con- 
dense in  a  short  account  our  particular  observations. 

*  Dervaze  Imam,  D.  Mezar,  D.  Samarcand,  D.  Oglan,  D.  Tal- 
patch,  D.  Shirgiran,  D.  Karakol,  D.  Sheikh  Djelal,  D.  Namazgiah, 
D.  Salakhane,  D.  Karshi. 


414  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVIII. 

Mosques. 
The  Bokhariot  pretends  that  his  native  city  pos- 
sesses 365  mosques,  counting  the  small  as  well  as  the 
large  ones,  so  that  the  pious  Mussulman  may  find  a 
different  one  to  attend  each  day  in  the  year.  I  have 
not  been  able  to  discover  more  than  the  half  of  that 
number.  The  following  are  the  only  ones  that  de- 
serve mention : 

1.  Mesdjidi  Kelan,  built  by  Timour,  but  restored 
by  Abdullah  Khan,  which  is  thronged  on  Fridays, 
as  the  emir  then  says  his  prayers  there. 

2.  Mesdjidi  Divanbeghi,  built,  with  the  reservoir 
and  medresse  bearing  the  same  name,  by  a  certain 
Nezr,  1029  (1629),  who  was  divanbeghi  (state  secre- 
tary) of  the  Emir  Imankuli  Khan. 

3.  Mirekan. 

4.  Mesdjidi  Mogak.  This  is  a  subterranean  build- 
ing, in  which,  according  to  one  tradition,  the  primi- 
tive Mussulmans,  according  to  another,  the  last  Fire- 
worshipers,  held  their  meetings.  The  former  version 
seems  more  probable ;  for,  first,  the  Guebres  could 
have  found  more  suitable  spots  outside  of  the  city, 
in  the  open  air ;  and,  secondly,  many  Kufish  inscrip- 
tions there  point  to  an  Islamite  origin. 

Medresse  (Colleges). 

The  Bokhariot  prides  himself  upon  the  number  of 
these  colleges,  and  fixes  them  at  his  favorite  figure, 
365.  There  are,  however,  not  more  than  80.  The 
most  celebrated  are  the  following : 

1.  The  Medresse  Kokeltash,  built  in  1426:   it  has 


CuAP.  XVIII.  COLLEGES.  415 

160  cells,  each  of  which  costs  from  100  to  120  tilla/=' 
The  students  in  the  first  class  receive  an  annual  sum 
of  five  tillas. 

2.  M.  Mirarab  was  erected  in  1529,  and  has  100 
cells,  each  of  which  costs  from  80  to  90  tilla,  and  pays 
interest  7  per  cent. 

3.  Koshmedresse  (pair  of  colleges)  of  Abdullah 
Khan,  built  in  1372.-  It  has  about  100  cells,  but  not 
so  valuable  as  the  preceding  ones. 

4.  M.  Djuybar  was  erected  in  1582  by  a  grandson 
of  the  2;reat  scholar  and  ascetic  of  the  same  name. 
It  is  most  richly  endowed ;  each  cell  pays  25  tilla, 
but  it  is  not  very  full,  being  at  the  extreme  end  of 
the  city. 

5.  M.  Tursindjan,  where  each  cell  yields  five  tilla 
yearly. 

G.  M.  Ernazar,  founded  by  the  Czarina  Catharine 
through  her  embassador.  It  has  60  cells,  each  pay- 
ing three  tilla. 

We  may  remark,  generally,  that  the  colleges  of 
Bokhara  and  Samarcand  are  the  cause  why  so  high 
an  idea  not  only  prevailed  throughout  Islam,  but  ex- 
isted for  a  long  time  even  among  Europeans,  as  to 
the  learning  of  the  superior  schools  in  Central  Asia. 
The  readiness  to  make  the  sacrifice  which  the  foun- 
dation of  such  establishments  supposes  may  by  a  su- 
perficial observer  be  easily  mistaken,  and  ascribed  to 
a  higher  motive.  Unhappily,  merely  blind  fanati- 
cism lies  at  the  root ;  and  the  same  thing  occurs  here 

*  On  the  first  foundation  of  a  medresse  the  cells  are  given  as 
presents,  but  the  subsequent  proprietors  can  only  obtain  them 
upon  the  payment  of  a  fixed  price. 


416  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVm. 

as  took  place  during  the  Middle  Ages,  for,  with  the 
exception  of  what  is  given  in  a  few  books  upon  man- 
tik  (logic)  and  hikmet  (philosophy),  there  is  no  in- 
struction at  all  but  in  the  Koran  and  religious  cas- 
uistry. Now  and  then,  perhaps,  one  may  be  found 
who  would  like  to  busy  himself  with  poetry  and  his- 
tory, but  his  studies  must  be  in  secret,  as  it  is  regard- 
ed as  a  disgrace  to  devote  one's  self  to  any  such  friv- 
olous subjects.  The  aggregate  number  of  students 
has  been  represented  to  me  as  about  5000 ;  they  flock 
thither,  not  merely  out  of  all  j)arts  of  Central  Asia, 
but  also  from  India,  Cashmer^,  Afghanistan,  Russia, 
and  China.  The  poorer  receive  an  annual  pension 
from  the  emir,  for  it  is  by  means  of  these  medresse, 
and  its  severe  observance  of  Islamism,  that  Bokhara 
is  able  to  exercise  a  spiritual  influence  upon  neigh- 
boring countries. 

Bawirs. 

There  are  none  here  like  those  in  the  chief  cities 
of  Persia.  Very  few  are  vaulted  or  built  of  stone ; 
the  larger  ones  are  covered  over  either  with  wood  or 
reed  mattings  laid  across  long  perches.* 

Each  bazar  has  its  particular  aksakal,  responsible 

*  They  are  separated  into  different  parts,  as  Tirm  Abdullah 
Khan,  the  above-mentioned  prince,  had  them  built  according  to 
Persian  models  on  his  return  from  Persia  in  1582.  Restei  Suzen- 
ghiran,  haberdashers ;  R.Saraffan,  where  the  money-changers  and 
booksellers  station  themselves ;  R.  Zergheran,  workers  in  gold ; 
R.  Tchilingheran,  locksmiths ;  R.  Attari,  dealers  in  spices ;  R. 
Kannadi,  confectioners ;  R.  Tchayfurushi,  tea-dealers  ;  R.  Tchit- 
furushi,  dealers  in  chintz ;  Bazari  Latta,  linen-drapers ;  Timche 
Darayfurushi,  grocers  j  and  so  on. 


CHAPlXVin.  THE  KHANAT  OF  BOKHARA.  4X7 

to  the  emir  for  order  as  well  as  for  taxes.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  bazars,  there  are,  perhaps,  altogether  about 
thirty  small  caravanserais,  used  partly  as  warehouses 
and  partly  for  the  reception  of  strangers. 

Police. 
The  system  of  police  in  Bokhara  is  more  severe 
than  in  any  other  city  of  known  parts  of  Asia.  By 
day  the  reis  himself  perambulates  the  bazars  and  pub- 
lic places,  and  he  sends  out  his  numerous  dependents 
and  spies ;  and  about  two  hours  after  sunset  no  one 
dares  to  show  himself  in  the  streets,  neighbor  can 
not  visit  neighbor,  and  the  sick  man  runs  the  risk 
of  perishing  for  want  of  medical  aid,  for  the  emir 
has  declared  that  the  mirshebs  (night- watchers)  may 
even  arrest  himself  should  they  meet  him  abroad 
during  the  forbidden  hours. 

The  Khanat  of  Bokhara. 

Inhabitants. 
The  actual  frontiers  of  the  khanat  are  —  on  the 
east,  the  Khanat  of  Khokand,  and  the  mountains  of 
Bedakhshan ;  on  the  south,  the  Oxus,  with  the  dis- 
tricts on  the  farther  side,  Kerki  and  Chardjuy ;  on 
the  west  and  north,  the  Great  Desert.  The  positive 
line  of  demarkation  can  not  be  defined,  and  it  is 
equally  impossible  to  fix  the  number  of  inhabitants. 
Without  going  too  far,  they  may,  perhaps,  be  set 
down  at  two  millions  and  a  half,  consisting  generally 
of  those  having  fixed  habitations  and  those  leading  a 
nomad  life,  or,  if  we  take  the  principle  of  nationality, 

Dd 


418  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVIU. 

of  Ozbegs,  Tadjiks,  Kirgliis,  Arabs,  Mervi,  Persians, 
Hindoos,  and  Je^s. 

Ozbegs. 
The  Ozbegs,  part  of  the  thirty-two  tribes,  are  al- 
ready particularized  in  our  account  of  Khiva,  but 
they  are  sensibly  distinguishable  from  the  kindred 
race  in  Kharezm,  both  by  the  conformation  of  the 
face  and  by  the  character.  The  Ozbeg  Bokhariots 
have  dwelt  in  closer  connection  with  the  Tadjiks 
than  the  Khivites  have  done  with  the  Sarts,  and 
have  consequently  paid  the  penalty  by  losing  much 
of  their  national  type,  and  of  their  Ozbeg  straight- 
forwardness and  honesty.  As  the  dominant  popu- 
lation in  the  khanat  (for  the  emir  himself  is  also  an 
Ozbeg  of  the  tribe  Manghit),  the  Ozbegs  form  the 
nerve  of  the  army,  but  the  superior  officers  are  rare- 
ly taken  out  of  their  ranks.       ^ 

Tadjihs. 
The  Tadjiks,  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  all  the 
cities  of  Central  Asia,  are  rejDresented  still  in  the 
greatest  number  here ;  hence  Bokhara  is  the  only 
place  where  the  Tadjik  can  point  to  his  origin  with 
pride,  assigning  as  he  does,  for  frontiers  to  his  prim- 
itive fatherland,  Khorasan,*  Khoten  (in  China)  to 
the  east,  the  Caspian  to  the  west,  Khodjend  to  the 
north,  and  India  to  the  south.  It  is  a  pity  that  this 
people,  in  spite  of  the  high  antiquity  of  their  origin, 
and  their  grandeur  in  time  gone  by,  should  have  at- 

*  Khor  means  "  sun,"  and  son  "  district ;"  hence  the  whole 
word  sisrnifies  "  district  of  the  sun." 


CnAP.  XVIII.  KIRGHIS.  4I9 

tained  the  very  highest  stage  of  vice  and  profligacy : 
if  they  are  to  be  taken  as  a  specimen  of  antique  Asia, 
the  cradle  of  our  race,  it  must,  indeed,  have  presented 
in  those  early  ages  a  sorry  appearance. 

Kirghis. 

Kirghis,*  or  Kasaks,  as  they  style  themselves,  are 
not  numerous  in  the  Khanat  of  Bokhara,  but  we  "svill, 
nevertheless,  record  here  a  few  notes  which  we  have 
made  respecting  this  peojole,  numerically  the  great- 
est, and  by  the  peculiarity  of  its  nomad  life  the  most 
original,  in  Central  Asia. 

I  have  often,  in  my  wanderings,  fallen  upon  par- 
ticular encampments  of  Kirghis,  and  whenever  I 
wished  to  acquire  information  as  to  their  number, 
they  laughed  at  me,  and  said,  "Count  first  the  sand 
in  the  desert,  and  then  you  may  number  the  Kir- 
ghis." There  is  the  same  impossibility  in  defining 
their  frontiers.  We  know  only  that  they  inhabit 
the  Great  Desert  that  lies  between  Siberia,  China, 
Turkestan,  and  the  Caspian  Sea ;  and"  such  localities 
to  move  in,  as  well  as  their  social  condition,  suffice 
to  show  how  likely  we  are  to  err  when  we  at  one 
time  ascribe  Kirghis  to  the  Russian  dominions,  and 
at  another  transfer  them  to  the  Chinese.  Russia, 
China,  Khokand,  Bokhara,  and  Khiva,  exercise  do- 

*  Kir  means  field,  gis  or  gez  is  the  root  of  the  word  gizmelt 
(wander).  The  word  Kirghis  signifies,  in  Turkish,  a  man  that 
wanders  about  the  fields,  a  nomad,  and  is  used  to  denote  all  na- 
tions leading  the  pastoral  life.  It  is  also  employed  to  designate 
a  tribe ;  but  they  are  only  a  subdivision  of  the  Kazaks,  to  be 
met  with  in  Khokand,  in  the  vicinity  of  Hazneti  in  Turkestan. 


/ 


420  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVIII. 

minion  over  the  Kirghis  only  so  long  as  the  taxing 
officers,  whom  they  send,  sojourn  among  those  no- 
mads. The  Kirghis  regard  the  whole  procedure  as 
a  razzia  on  a  gigantic  scale,  and  they  are  grateful  to 
find  that  those  who  commit  it  are  content  to  receive 
merely  a  percentage  or  some  tax  that  is  tantamount. 
The  revolutions  that  have  taken  place  in  the  world 
for  hundreds,  nay,  perhaps  thousands  of  years,  have 
wrought  very  little  influence  upon  the  Kirghis ;  it 
is,  therefore,  in  this  nation,  which  we  can  never  be- 
hold as  one  mass,  but  in  small  sections,  that  we  es- 
pecially see  the  most  faithful  picture  of  those  cus- 
toms and  usages  which  characterize  the  Turani  races 
of  ancient  times,  and  which  constitute  so  extraordi- 
nary a  mingling  of  savage  qualities  and  of  virtues. 

We  are  surprised  to  perceive  in  them  so  great  a 
disposition  to  music  and  poetry;  but  their  aristo- 
cratical  pride  is  particularly  remarkable.  When  two 
Kirghis  meet,  the  first  question  is,  "Who  are  thy 
seven  fathers — ancestors  f*  The  person  addressed, 
even  if  a  child*  in  his  eighth  year,  has  always  his  an- 
swer ready,  for  otherwise  he  would  be  considered  as 
very  ill  bred. 

In  bravery  the  Kirghis  is  inferior  to  the  Ozbeg, 
and  still  more  so  to  the  Turkoman.  Islamism,  with 
the  former,  is  on  a  far  weaker  footing  than  with  the 
others  I  have  mentioned.  Nor  are  any  of  them,  ex- 
cept the  wealthy  bays,  accustomed  to  search  the  cit- 
ies for  mollahs  to  exercise  the  functions  of  teachers, 
chaplains,  and  secretaries  at  a  fixed  salary,  payable 
in  sheep,  horses,  and  camels. 

*  "  Yeti  atang  kimdir." 


Chap.  XVUI.  ARABS.— MERVI.  421 

The  Kirghis,  even  after  frequent  contact,  must  still, 
in  the  eyes  of  us  Europeans,  appear  wonderful  beings. 
"VVe  behold  in  them  men  who,  whether  the  heat  is 
scorching  or  the  snow  a  fathom  deep,  move  about 
for  hours  daily  in  search  of  a  new  spot  for  their  pur- 
pose :  men  who  have  never  heard  bread  even  named, 
and  who  support  themselves  only  upon  milk  and 
meat.  The  Kirghis  look  upon  those  who  have  set- 
tled down  in  town  or  country  as  sick  or  insane  per- 
sons, and  they  compassionate  all  whose  faces  have 
not  the  pure  Mongol  conformation.  According  to 
their  testhetic  views,  that  race  stands  at  the  very  ze- 
nith for  beauty ;  for  God  made  it  with  bones  promi- 
nent like  those  of  the  horse — an  animal,  in  their 
eyes,  the  crowning  work  of  creation. 

3.  Arabs. 

These  Arabs  are  the  descendants  of  those  warriors 
who,  under  Kuteibe,  in  the  time  of  the  third  khalif, 
took  part  in  the  conquest  of  Turkestan,  where  they 
subsequently  settled.  They  retain,  however,  with  the 
exception  of  their  physiognomy,  very  little  resem- 
blance to  their  brethren  in  Hedjaz  or  Arak.  I  found 
very  few  of  them  who  even  spoke  Arabic.  Their 
number  is  said  to  be  60,000,  and  they  are  mostly 
settled  in  the  environs  of  Vardanzi  and  Yafkend. 

4.  Mervi. 

The  Mervi  are  the  descendants  of  the  40,000  Per- 
sians transplanted  from  Merv  to  Bokhara  by  the 
Emir  Said  Khan,  when  about  the  year  1810  he  took 
that  city  by  aid  of  the  Sarik.     The  race  sprang  orig- 


422  TRAVELS  IN  CENTKAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVIII. 

inally  from  the  Turks  of  Azerbaydjan  and  Karabag, 
whom  Nadir  Shah  transferred  from  their  ancient 
homes  to  Merv.  Next  to  the  Tadjiks,  the  Mervi  is 
the  most  cunning  among  the  inhabitants  of  Bokha- 
ra, but  he  is  far  from  being  so  cowardly  as  the  for- 
mer. 

5.  Persians. 
The  Persians  in  Bokhara  are  partly  slaves,  j^artly 
such  as  have  paid  their  own  ransom  and  then  set- 
tled in  the  khanat.     Here,  in  spite  of  all  religious 
oppression — for  as  Shiites  they  can  only  practice 
their  religion  in  secret — they  readily  apply  them- 
selves to  trade  and  handicraft,  because  living  is  here 
cheaper  and  the  gain  easier  than  in  their  own  coun- 
try.    The  Persian,  so  far  superior  in  capacity  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Central  Asia,  is  wont  to  elevate  him- 
self from  the  position  of  slave  to  the  highest  offices 
in  the  state.     There  are  hardly  any  governors  in  the 
province  who  do  not  employ  in  some  office  or  other 
Persians  Avho  were  previously  his  slaves,  and  who 
have  remained  faithful  to  him.     They  swarm  even 
in  the  immediate  proximity  of  the  present  emir,  and 
the  first  dignitaries  in  the  khanat  belong  to  the  same 
nation.     In  Bokhara  the  Persians  are  looked  upon 
as  men  more  disjDOsed  to  intercourse  with  the  Fren- 
ghis — men  who  have  knowledge  of  diabolical  arts ; 
but  the  emir  would  bitterly  rue  it  if  Persia  threaten- 
ed him  with  invasion,  which  it  had  already  thought 
of;  for,  with  his  army  in  its  present  state,  he  could 
do  but  little;  the  chief  commanders,  Shalirukh  Khan, 
Mehemmed  Hasan  Khan,  also  are  Persians ;  and  their 


Chap.  XVIII.  HINDOOS.— JEWS.  423 

toptchibashi,  chiefs   of  artillery,  Zeinel  Bey,  Mehdi 
Bey,  and  Lesker  Bey,  belong  to  the  same  nation. 

6.  Hindoos. 
Of  Hindoos  there  are  but  500.  They  form  no  fam- 
ilies, and,  scattered  throughout  the  capital  and  prov- 
inces, they  have  in  some  wonderful  manner  got  all 
the  management  of  money  into  their  hands,  there  be- 
ing no  market,  not  even  a  village,  where  the  Hindoo 
is  not  ready  to  act  as  usurer.  Bowing  with  the  deep- 
est submissiveness,  like  the  Armenian  in  Turkey,  he 
nevertheless  all  the  time  fleeces  the  Ozbeg  in  fearful 
fashion  ;  and  as  the  pious  kadi  for  the  most  part  car- 
ries on  business  in  common  with  the  worshiper  of 
Vishnoo,  it  is  rarely  that  the  victim  escapes. 

7.  Jeivs. 
The  Jews  in  the  khanat  are  about  10,000  in  num- 
ber, dwelling  for  the  most  part  in  Bokhara,  Samar- 
cand,  and  Karshi,  and  occupying  themselves  rather 
with  handicrafts  than  with  commerce.  In  their  ori- 
gin they  are  Jews  from  Persia,  and  have  wandered 
hither  from  Kazvin  and  Merv,  about  150  years  ago. 
They  live  here  under  the  greatest  oppression,  and  ex- 
posed to  the  greatest  contempt.  They  only  dare  to 
show  themselves  on  the  threshold  when  they  pay  a 
visit  to  a  "believer;"  and  again,  when  they  receive 
visitors,  they  are  bound  in  all  haste  to  quit  their  own 
houses,  and  station  themselves  before  their  doors.  In 
the  city  of  Bokhara  they  yield  yearly  2000  tilla  dji- 
zie  (tribute),  which  the  chief  of  their  whole  comnm- 
nity  pays  in,  receiving,  as  he  does  so,  two  slight  blows 


424  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVIII. 

on  the  cheek,  prescribed  by  the  Koran  as  a  sign  of 
submission.  The  rumor  of  the  privileges  accorded 
to  the  Jews  in  Turkey  has  attracted  some  to  Damas- 
cus, and  other  places  in  Syria ;  but  this  emigration 
can  only  occur  secretly,  otherwise  they  would  have 
to  atone  for  the  very  wish  by  confiscation  or  death. 
It  is  surprising  what  a  letter  correspondence  is  main- 
tained by  them  through  the  hadjis  proceeding  every 
year  from  Turkestan  to  Mecca.  My  companions  also 
had  charge  of  many  letters,  which  they  every  where 
delivered  at  the  addresses  indicated. 

Government. 

The  form  of  government  in  Bokhara  has  retained 
very  few  of  the  primitive  Persian  or  Arabian  char- 
acteristics, the  Turco-Mongolian  element  predomina- 
ting, and  giving  its  tone  to  the  whole.  Although 
powerfully  influenced  by  its  hierarchy,  the  constitu- 
tion is  a  military  despotism.  At  its  head  stands 
the  emir  as  generalissimo,  prince,  and  chief  of  relig- 
ion. 

The  military  and  civil  dignitaries  are  divided  into 
(a)  Kette  Sipahi  (higher  functionaries),  (6)  Orta  Si- 
pahi  (middle  functionaries),  and  (c)  Ashaghi  Sipahi. 
To  the  first  two  classes  it  is  the  rule  to  admit  only 
urukdar  (personages  of  good  family),  for  they  are 
nominated  on  account  of  yerlik  (handwriting)  or 
billig  (insignia)."^  A  practice,  however,  of  aj^point- 
ing  emancipated  I^rsian  slaves  is  of  old  date. 

*  Yerlik  and  billig  ai-e  old  Turkish  words,  the  former  signify- 
ing "  writing" — the  root  is  yei\  Hungarian  2>,  Turkish  yaz;  the 
latter  meaning  "  mark,"  in  Hungarian  belyeg. 


Chap.  XVIII. 


BOKHAKIOT  FUNCTIONARIES. 


425 


a.  Kette  Sipahi      ^ 


The  following  list  or  sketch  furnishes  a  view  of 
the  different  functionaries,  from  the  emir  downward : 

1.  Atalik. 

2.  Divanbeghi  (secretary  of  state). 

3.  Pervancdji,  the  "butterfly-man,"  as  he 
is  termed  at  court,  because  he  is  sent 
about  by  the  emir  in  different  direc- 
tions, on  important  errands. 

4.  Toklisabay,  properly  tughsahibi  (one 
who  has  as   a  banner   a  tugh   or 

h.  Orta  Sipahi         -l  horse's  tail). 

I    5.  Inag. 
I   G.  Miakhor  (constable). 

7.  Choragasi,  properly  chehre  agasi  (the 
"face-man"),  so  called  because  at 
the  audience  he  stands  facing  the 


c.  Ashaghi  Sipahi  < 


emir. 

8.  Mirzabashi  (principal  writer). 

9.  Yasaulbeghi  and  kargaulbeghi. 


10.  Ytlzbashi. 

11.  Pendjabashi. 

12.  Onbashi. 

Besides  these,  we  have  still  to  mention  the  officers 
about  the  emir's  person  and  court.  At  their  head 
stands  the  kushbeghi,  or  vizir,  the  mehter,  destur- 
khandji  (steward),  and  zekiatchi  (receiver  of  the  cus- 
toms). The  latter,  in  his  quality  of  finance  minister, 
is  also  chief  master  of  the  emir's  household.  Next 
come  the  mehrem  (chamberlains),  whose  number  va- 
ries with  circumstances.  These  are  sent,  upon  extra- 
ordinary occasions,  as  commissioners  into  the  prov- 
inces. Every  subject,  if  not  content  with  the  decis- 
ion of  the  governor  as  to  his  right,  can  appeal  to  the 
emir,  Avhereupon  a  mehrem  is  assigned  to  him  as  at- 
torney, who  travels  back  with  him  to  his  province, 


426  TKAVELS  IN  CEWTKAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVUI. 

examines  the  aiFair,  and  lays  it  before  the  emir  for 
his  final  decision.  There  are,  besides,  odadji  (door- 
keepers), bakaul  (provision-masters),  and  selamagasi, 
who  on  public  processions  return,  instead  of  the  emir, 
the  salutation  "  Ve  aleikum  es  selam."  These  func- 
tions and  offices  exist  only  nominally  under  the  pres- 
ent emir,  whose  aversion  to  all  display  or  pomp  has 
made  him  leave  many  vacant. 

The  Political  Division  of  the  Khanat. 

The  political  division  of  the  khanat,  like  that  of 
Khiva,  is  based  upon  the  number  of  its  large  cities, 
and  Bokhara  consists  at  present  of  the  following  dis- 
tricts, which  we  here  prefer  to  classify  according  to 
their  size  and  population :  1.  Karakol ;  2.  Bokhara ; 
3.  Karshi ;  4.  Samarcand ;  5.  Kerki ;  6.  Hissar ;  7. 
Miyankal,  or  Kermineh ;  8.  Kette  Kurgan ;  9.  Char- 
djuy;  10.  Djizzak;  11.  Oratepe;  12.  Shehri  Sebz. 
The  latter  equals  Samarcand  in  size,  but,  owing  to  its 
continual  struggles  with  the  emir,  can  not  be  consid- 
ered as  wholly  subject  to  the  khanat. 

Governors  of  the  rank  of  divanbeghi,  or  pervane- 
djis,  have  allowed  to  them  a  fixed  share  in  the  rev- 
enue of  the  province  under  their  administration,  but 
in  extraordinary  emergencies  they  are  obliged  to  fore- 
go the  claim.  Under  the  direct  orders  of  each  gov- 
ernor there  is  a  tokhsabay,  a  mirzabashi,  a  yasaulbe- 
ghi,  and  several  miakhor  and  choragasi. 

Army. 
The  standing  army  of  the  Khanat  is  stated  to  con- 
sist of  40,000  horsemen,  but  can  be  raised  to  60,000. 


Chap.  XVIII.  BOKHARA— ITS  HISTORY.  427 

Of  these  troops  Bokhara  and  Karshi  are  said  to  sup- 
ply the  greater  proportion  ;  the  former  are  especially 
renowned  for  their  bravery.  Such  is  the  account  of 
their  numbers  current  in  Bokhara,  but  I  have  found 
it  exaggerated,  because  the  emir,  in  his  campaign 
against  Khokand,  where  his  army  never  exceeded 
30,000  men,  was  forced  to  maintain  an  auxiliary 
force  at  a  heavy  expense — an  expense  which  the 
stingy  Mozaffar-ed-din  never  would  have  incurred  if 
the  foregoing  computation  had  been  correct.  The 
pay,  only  made  in  time  of  war,  consists  of  20  tenghe 
(about  lis.  2d.)  monthly,  with  which  the  horseman 
has  to  keep  himself  and  horse.  In  addition  to  this, 
half  the  booty  made  belongs  to  the  soldiery. 

It  is  really  singular  that,  with  the  great  popula- 
tion subject  to  him,  the  prince  sets  no  greater  native 
force  on  foot ;  singular,  also,  that  he  takes  no  auxil- 
iaries from  the  50,000  Ersari  who  are  tributary  to 
him,  but  prefers  applying  to  the  Tekke,  or  even  tak- 
ing Sariks  into  his  service,  at  a  yearly  expense  of 
4000  tilla. 

Short  Outline  of  the  History  of  Bokhara. 

Efrasiab,  the  great  Turani  warrior,  and  one  of  the 
greatest  heroes  of  ancient  Iran,  is  regarded  as  the 
founder  of  Bokhara.  Extravagant  fables  form  the 
basis  of  its  earlier  history.  Of  the  accounts  which 
they  embody,  we  only  accept  the  following  fact,  that 
the  incursions  of  the  Turkish  hordes  were  from  the 
oldest  times  the  terror  of  those  districts  whose  Per- 
sian population  had  separated  themselves  from  their 
brethren  in  Iran  so  early  as  the  epoch  of  the  Pishda- 


428  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVHI. 

dian.  The  first  thread  of  real  history,  properly  so 
called,  only  begins  at  the  epoch  of  the  occupation  by 
the  Arabs,  and  we  can  only  regret  that  these  daring 
adventurers  have  not  transmitted  to  us  more  notices 
than  those  which  we  find  scattered  in  the  pages  of 
Tarikhi  Taberi  and  some  other  Arabian  authorities. 
Islam  did  not,  so  easily  as  in  other  countries,  strike 
its  roots  in  Mavera-ul  Nehr  (the  land  between  the 
Oxus  and  the  Jaxartes),  and  the  Arabs  found,  on 
their  return  to  the  different  cities  after  an  absence  of 
any  duration,  that  the  work  of  proselytism  had  ever 
to  be  begun  afresh.  Up  to  the  time  of  its  conquest 
by  Djenghis  Khan  (1225),  Bokhara  and  Samarcand, 
as  well  as  the  city,  at  that  time  considerable,  of  Merv 
(Mervi  Shah  Djihan,  or  Merv,  "king  of  the  world"), 
Karshi  (Nakhsheb),  and  Balkh  (Um-iil  Bilad,  "moth- 
er of  cities"),  were  regarded  as  belonging  to  Persia, 
although  the  government  of  Khorasan,  as  it  was  then 
called,  was  the  subject  of  an  extraordinary  firman  of 
investiture  from  Bagdad.  On  the  invasion  of  the 
Mongols  the  Persian  element  was  entirely  supplant- 
ed, the  Ozbegs  every  where  seized  the  reins  of  gov- 
ernment, and  Timour,  the  lame  conqueror  from  Sheh- 
ri  Sebz  (green  city),  was  satisfied  with  nothing  less 
than  making  Samarcand  the  capital  of  all  Asia. 
The  design  perished  with  him,  and  the  special  histo- 
ry, properly  so  called,  of  Bokhara  begins  with  the 
house  of  the  Sheibani,  whose  founder,  Ebulkheir 
Khan,  broke  the  power  of  the  descendants  of  Timour 
in  their  hereditary  dominions.  A  grandson  of  the 
last  Sheibani  Mehemm.ed  Khan  enlarged  the  limits 
of  Bokhara  from  Khodjend  to  Herat ;  and  when  he 


Chap.  XVIII.  BOKHARA— ITS  HISTORY.  429 

ventured  to  attack  Meshed  also,  he  was  defeated  by 
Shah  Ismael,  and  j^erished  in  916  (1510),  in  the  bat- 
tle. One  of  the  ablest  among  his  successors  M-as  Ab- 
dullah Khan  (born  1544).  He  conquered  Bedakh- 
shan,  Herat,  and  Meshed  afresh,  and,  from  his  efforts  • 
in  favor  of  civilization  and  commerce,  deserves  to  be 
placed  at  the  side  of  the  great  sovereign  of  Persia, 
Shah  Abbas  II.  In  his  time  the  routes  of  Bokhara 
were  provided  with  caravanserais  and  fine  bridges, 
the  ways  through  the  deserts  with  cisterns  for  water; 
and  the  ruins  of  all  his  constructions  of  this  descrip- 
tion still  bear  his  name.  His  son,  Abdul  Mumin 
Khan,  1004  (1595),  was  unable  to  retain  long  his  seat 
on  the  throne ;  he  was  murdered ;  and  after  the  in- 
vasion of  the  Kirghis  chief  Tokol,  who  laid  all  the 
country  waste,  fell  even  the  last  offspring  of  the  house 
of  Sheibani. 

In  the  long  disturbance  and  civil  war  that  ensued, 
the  candidates  who  disputed  the  throne  were  espe- 
cially Veli  Mehemmed  Khan  (a  remote  collateral  rep- 
resentative of  the  Sheibani),  and  Baki  Mehemmed 
Khan;  and  as  the  latter,  1025  (1616)  fell  in  battle 
at  Samarcand,  the  former  founded  his  dynasty,  which 
is  said  to  have  survived  at  the  time  of  Ebul  Feiz 
Khan,  who,  in  1740,  was  compelled  to  implore  Na- 
dir Shah  for  peace.  In  the  period  that  succeeds,  the 
sovereigns  who  have  most  distinguished  themselves 
have  been  Imamkuli  Khan  and  Nazir  Mehemmed 
Khan.  By  their  liberal  support  of  the  ishan  class 
they  have  contributed  much  to  the  religious  fanati- 
cism that  exists  in  Bokhara,  and  which  has  reached 
there,  as  well  as  throughout  Turkestan,  such  a  point 


430  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XVIH. 

as  was  never  before  attained  by  Islam  in  any  age  or 
country.  Ebul  Feiz  was  treacherously  murdered  by 
his  own  vizir,  Rehim  Khan,  as  was  also  his  son  after 
him.  Subsequently  to  the  death  of  the  murderer, 
who  had  governed  under  the  title  of  vizir,  but  with 
independent  authority,  Danial  Beg,  of  the  race  of  the 
Mangit,  seized  the  reins  of  government.  He  was 
succeeded  by  the  emirs  Shah  Murad,  Said  Khan,  and 
Nasrullah  Khan. 

As  the  history  of  the  three  last-mentioned  sover- 
eigns has  been  already  handled  by  Malcolm,  Burnes, 
and  KhanikofF,  and  as  we  can  adduce  no  fresh  mate- 
rials, we  leave  that  period  untouched ;  but  we  pro- 
pose in  a  subsequent  chapter  to  treat  of  the  war 
waged  by  Bokhara  with  Khokand  during  the  last 
three  years. 


Chap.  XIX.        KHANAT  OF  KHOKAND.  4.3I 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

KHANAT     OF     KHOKAND. 

IXHABITAKTS. DIVISION. KHOKANT)   TASHKEND. KHODJEND. MERGOLAX 

ENDtDJAN. HAZNETI   TUKKESTANA. OOSH.  POLITICAL   POSITION. KE- 

CENT    WARS. 

Khokand,  or  Fergana,  as  the  ancients  style  it,  is 
bounded  on  the  east  by  Chinese  Tartary,  on  the  west 
by  Bokhara  and  the  Jaxartes,  on  the  north  by  the 
great  horde  of  nomads,  and  on  the  south  by  Kara- 
teghin  and  Bedakhshan.  Its  superficial  extent  we 
can  not  positively  affirm,  but  it  is  certainly  larger 
than  the  territory  of  either  Bokhara  or  Khiva.  It 
is  also  better  peopled  than  the  latter  khanat. 

Judging  by  the  number  of  cities  and  other  circum- 
stances, Khokand,  at  the  present  day,  may  be  said  to 
contain  more  than  three  millions  of  inhabitants,  con- 
sisting of  the  following  races  :  (1.)  Ozbegs  form  that 
part  of  the  population  having  fixed  habitations;  and, 
as  I  remarked  when  I  spoke  of  Khiva,  they  have  a 
type  quite  distinct  from  the  Ozbegs  either  of  that 
khanat  or  of  Bokhara.  As  the  Ozbegs  have  been 
for  hundreds  of  years  the  dominant  race  in  Turkes- 
tan, and  adopted  the  institutions  of  Islam  earlier 
than  any  other  nomad  people  of  these  parts,  the 
name  itself  has  become  invested  with  a  certain  ])Yes- 
tige  of  breeding  and  hon  ton,  so  that  the  Kirghis, 
Kiptchak,  and  Kalmuk,  from  the  moment  that  they 


432  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIX. 

settle  in  cities,  generally  abandon  their  several  na- 
tionalities, and  assume  the  denomination  of  Ozbegs. 
In  Khokand  this  has  been  also  long  the  case,  and  it 
may  be  affirmed,  without  exaggeration,  that  half  of 
those  who  so  style  themselves  are  to  be  regarded 
merely  as  a  mixture  of  the  nomad  races  just  referred 
to. 

Judging  from  his  outside  appearance,  as  he  pre- 
sents himself  in  his  clumsy  loose  clothes,  the  Ozbeg 
of  Khokand  seems  a  very  helpless  person.  We  had 
many  opportunities  of  witnessing  his  unexampled 
cowardice,  and,  had  it  not  been  for  the  protection  of 
the  nomads,  his  cities  would  have  long  fallen  under 
the  dominion  of  China,  Russia,  or  Bokhara. 

(2.)  Next  to  the  Ozbegs  come  the  Tadjiks,  who, 
although  they  may  not  constitute  a  more  numerous, 
still  form  a  more  compact  population  here  than  in 
the  Khanat  of  Bokhara,  and,  as  is  nowhere  else  the 
case,  people  entire  villages  and  towns.  Accordingly, 
the  city  of  Khodjend,  the  villages  Velekendaz  and 
Kisakuz  (near  Khodjend),  are  exclusively  inhabited 
by  this  primitive  Persian  race,  and  the  important 
cities  of  Namengan,  Endigan,  and  Mergolan*  are  said 
to  have  belonged  to  them  more  than  four  hundred 
years  ago. 

As  far  as  their  national  character  is  concerned,  the 
Tadjiks  of  Khokand  are  not  much  better  than  those 

*  These  three  words  respectively  signify,  (1.)  Nemengan  (orig- 
inally Nemek  kohn),  salt  mine ;  (2.)  Endekgan,  from  endek, small ; 
and  (3.)  Murghinan,  hen  and  bread.  These  etymologies  I  learn- 
ed from  my  friends ;  perhaps  they  are  not  to  be  received  as  ab- 
solutely correct,  but  their  Persian  origin  is  unquestionable. 


Chap.  XIX.  KASAKS.— KIRGHIS.— KIPTCHAKS.  433 

of  the  same  race  in  Bokhara.  The  sole  circumstance 
I  find  noticeable  is  that  their  language,  both  in  its 
grammatical  forms  and  its  vocabulary,  is  purer  than 
that  of  the  other  Tadjiks.  This  is  particularly  the 
case  in  Khodjend,  the  inhabitants  of  which  make  use 
of  a  dialect  that  has  retained  many  of  the  forms  of 
expression  observable  in  the  writings  of  the  oldest 
Persian  poet  Rudeki,  by  birth  a  Bokhariot.  In  the 
other  cities  of  Khokand,  particularly  in  those  on  the 
Chinese  frontiers,  Tadjiks  are  rarely  met  with.  (3.) 
Kasaks  form  the  majority  in  the  khanat.  They  lead 
a  nomad  life  in  the  mountainous  districts  between 
the  Lake  of  Tchaganak  and  Tashkend,  and  pay  to 
their  prince  the  same  amount  of  tribute  as  they  do 
in  Khiva  to  the  khan.  Among  the  Kirghis  of  Kho- 
kand some  are  in  affluent  circumstances,  possessing  in 
Hazreti  Turkestan,  or  in  other  places,  houses,  which, 
however,  they  do  not  themselves  inhabit.  In  other 
respects,  in  spite  of  their  superiority  in  number,  the 
Kirghis  have,  owing  to  their  want  of  bravery,  little 
influence  in  the  khanat.  (4.)  Kirghis — or  the  Kir- 
ghis properly  so  called,  a  tribe  of  the  great  Kasak 
horde — live  in  the  southern  part  of  the  khanat,  be- 
tween Khokand  and  Sarik  Kol,  and  from  their  war- 
like qualities  are  always  made  use  of  by  the  different 
factions  to  carry  out  their  revolutionary  projects. 
Their  tents  are  said  to  be  fifty  thousand  in  number, 
consequently  they  are  about  as  numerous  as  the 
Tekke  Turkomans.  (5.)  The  Kiptchak  are,  in  my 
opinion,  the  primitive  original  Turkish  race.  Among 
all  the  branches  of  this  great  family,  spread  from  Ko- 
mul  to  as  far  as  the  Adriatic  Sea,  the  Kiptchaks  have 

Ee 


434  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIX. 

remained  most  faithful  in  physiognomy  and  charac- 
ter, language  and  customs,  to  their  ancestral  type. 
The  name,  the  etymology  of  which  has  been  clouded 
with  fables  by  Rashideddin  Tabibi,  has  little  interest 
for  the  reader.  There  is  said  to  have  been  formerly 
a  mighty  nation  bearing  the  same  designation,  and 
the  Kiptchaks  of  the  present  day,  although  counting 
only  from  five  to  six  thousand  tents,  pretend  that 
Deshti  Kiptchak,'*"  as  Turkestan  is  named  in  the  doc- 
uments of  Oriental  history,  was  conquered,  and  ]3eo- 
pled  by  their  ancestors.  Notwithstanding  their  small 
numbers,  the  Kiptchaks  continue  to  exercise,  even  at 
the  present  day,  the  greatest  influence  upon  political 
affairs  in  Khokand.  They  nominate  the  khans,  and 
sometimes  even  dethrone  them  ;  and  often  five  hund- 
red of  their  horsemen  have  taken  possession  of  a  city 
without  the  khan  daring  to  resist  them.  I  have  not 
been  able  to  detect,  in  the  Turkish  that  they  speak, 
a  single  Persian  or  Arabic  word,  and  their  dialect 
may  be  regarded  as  the  best  point  of  transition  from 
the  Mongolian  language  to  that  of  the  Djagatai. 
The  same  remark  may  be  made  respecting  the  type 
of  their  physiognomy  as  of  their  language,  for  these 
stand  in  a  similar  relation  to  those  of  the  other  races 
of  Central  Asia.  In  their  slanting  eyes,  beardless 
chins,  and  j^rominent  cheek-bones  they  resemble  the 
Mongols,  and  are,  for  the  most  part,  of  small  stature, 
but  extraordinary  agility.  In  bravery  they  stand, 
as  was  remarked  before,  superior  to  all  nations  of 
Central  Asia,  and  form,  incontestably,  the  truest  spec- 

*  Deshti  Kiptchak  as  far  as  the  frontiers  of  Bolgar  (in  Rus- 
sia?) is  the  denomination  most  in  use. 


Chap.  XIX.  CITY  OF  KHOKAND.  435 

imen  remaining  to  us  of  the  immense  hordes  that 
revolutionized  all  Asia. 

With  respect  to  its  divisions,  the  Khanat  of  Kho- 
kand  falls  into  different  districts,  designated  here,  too, 
only  by  the  names  of  the  most  remarkable  cities. 
Its  capital  is  Khokand,'='  or  Khokandi  Latif  ("en- 
chanting Khokand"),  as  it  is  termed  by  the  natives. 
It  lies  in  a  beautiful  valley,  and  is  in  circumference 
six  times  as  large  as  Khiva,  three  times  as  Bokhara, 
„and  four  times  as  Teheran.  The  southern  portion 
of  the  city,  in  which  the  khan  has  his  palace,  was  not, 
until  recently,  surrounded  by  a  wall.  The  northern 
part  is  open.  The  number  of  inhabitants  and  houses 
is  proportionately  smalL  The  latter  are  surrounded 
by  large  orchards,  so  that  one  often  requires  a  quar- 
ter of  an  hour  to  pass  by  ten  or  fifteen  houses.  As 
for  the  architecture,  the  Khokandi  is  in  the  habit  of 
admitting  the  superiority  of  that  of  Bokhara,  and 
from  this  circumstance  one  may  easily  form  an  idea 
of  the  architectural  beauty  of  the  city.  Only  four 
mosques  are  of  stone,  as  is  also  a  small  portion  of 
the  extensive  bazar.  In  this  they  expose  for  sale,  at 
low  prices,  exclusively  Russian  merchandise,  and  the 
native  silk  and  Avoolen  manufactures ;  besides  which, 
tasty  articles  in  leather,  saddles,  whips,  and  equip- 
ments for  riding,  made  in  the  capital,  enjoy  a  high 
repute. 

After  Khokand,  Tashkend  deserves  to  be  mention- 
ed. It  is  the  first  commercial  town  in  the  khanat, 
and,  as  I  heard  on  all  sides,  is  at  present  the  residence 

*  The  ■rt'ord  Khokand  is  said  to  be  derived  from  Khob-kend, 
"beautiful  place"  or  "village." 


436  "PRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIX. 

of  many  affluent  merchants,  having  extensive  trading 
relations  with  Orenburg  and  Kizildjar  (Petropav- 
losk).  Tashkend,  which  has  the  transit  trade  be- 
tween Bokhara,  Khokand,  and  Chinese  Tartary,  is 
one  of  the  most  important  cities  of  Central  Asia, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  the  object  toward  which  Rus- 
sia is  quietly  striving,  and  from  which  her  most  ad- 
vanced frontier  (Kale  Kehim)  is  within  a  few  days' 
journey.  Once  in  possession  of  Tashkend,  a  place 
important  also  in  a  military  point  of  view,  Russia, 
would  find  little  difficulty  in  possessing  herself  of  the 
khanats  of  Bokhara  and  Khokand,  for  what  might 
prove  difficult  for  the  Russian  bayonet  would  be  fa- 
cilitated by  intestine  discord,  the  flames  of  which  the 
court  of  St.  Petersburg  never  ceases  to  foment  be- 
tween the  two  khanats. 

After  Tashkend  the  following  are  the  most  re- 
markable places:  Khodjend,  that  has  about  3000 
houses,  many  manufactories  for  aladja  (a  sort  of  cot- 
ton stuff),  eighteen  medresse,  and  twice  that  number 
of  mosques;  Mergolan,  a  large  city,  the.  principal 
city  of  Khokandi  learning  and  the  present  residence 
of  the  Khodja  Buzurk,  chief  of  the  order  of  the 
Makhdum  Aazam.  This  dignitary  refused  his  bless- 
ing to  the  present  Emir  of  Bokhara  on  his  triumph- 
ant entry  into  the  city,  and  the  latter  did  not  ven- 
ture, nor  was  he,  in  fact,  able  in  any  way  to  punish 
him.  Endidjan,  where  the  best  atresz  (heavy  sub- 
stantial silks)  in  the  khanat  are  manufactured ;  Na- 
mengan,  about  which  the  Kiptchaks  are  located. 
The  following  also  deserve  mentioning:  Hazreti 
Turkestana,  with  the  grave  there,  in  high  repute,  of 


Chap.  XIX.  OOSH.— ANCIENT  RUINS.  437 

Khodj  Ahmed  Jaszavi,  the  author  of  a  book  (Mesh- 
reb*)  upon  morals  and  religion,  which  is  even  at  the 
present  day  a  favorite  work  both  among  the  nomads 
and  the  settlers  in  Khokand ;  Shehri  Menzil  and 
Djust,  where  the  famous  knives  are  manufactured, 
which,  after  those  of  Hissar,  fetch  the  highest  price 
in  Turkestan ;  Shehrikhan,  a  place  where  the  best 
silk  is  produced ;  and  Oosh,  on  the  eastern  frontier 
of  the  khanat,  called  Takhti  Suleiman,  Suleiman's 
throne,  which  is  visited  yearly  by  a  great  number 
of  pilgrims.  The  place  of  pilgrimage  itself  consists 
of  a  hill  in  the  city  of  Oosh,  where,  amid  the  ruins 
of  an  old  edifice,  built  of  large  square  stones  and  or- 
namented by  columns,  the  visitor  is  first  shown,  not 
only  a  throne  hewn  out  of  marble,  but  the  place 
where  Adam,  the  first  prophet  (according  to  the 
teachings  of  Islam),  tilled  the  ground.  The  latter 
fable  was  introduced  very  apropos^  as  the  inventor 
wished  to  accustom  the  nomads  to  agriculture  through 
the  medium  of  their  religion. 

Anyhow,  Oosh  is  not  without  interest  to  our  an- 
tiquarians. The  ruins  themselves,  and  particularly 
the  columns,  as  they  were  described  to  me,  lead  to  the 
Suspicion  of  a  Grecian  origin;  and  if  we  were  search- 
ing for  the  most  eastern  colony  founded  by  Alexander, 
we  might  readily  suppose  Oosh  to  be  the  very  spot 
where  the  daring  Macedonian  marked  by  some  monu- 
ment the  most  easterly  frontier  of  his  gigantic  empire,  f 

*  I  was  able  to  bring  back  with  me  to  Europe  a  copy  of  this 
very  original  book,  written  in  Turkish,  which  I  hope  to  publish 
with  a  translation. 

f  Appian  mentions  [De  Rebus  Si/riacis,  h'ii.)  many  cities  found- 


438  TKAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIX. 

With  respect  to  the  political  position  of  the  Khan- 
at  of  Khokand,  its  independence  dates  as  far  back  as 
that  of  Bokhara  and  Khiva.  The  present  reigning 
family  pretends  to  descend  in  a  direct  line  from  Djen- 
ghis  Khan,  which  is  very  improbable,  as  his  family 
was  dethroned  by  Tim  our ;  and  after  Baber,  the  last 
descendant  of  Timour  in  Khokand,  the  Sheibani,  as 
well  as  other  chieftains  from  the  races  Kiptchak  and 
Kirghis,  seized  alternately  the  reins  of  government. 
The  family  at  present  on  the  throne,  or  perhaps,  I 
should  rather  say,  now  disputing  its  claim  to  it  with 
Bokhara,  is  of  Kiptchak  origin,  and  has  only  been 

ed  by  the  Greeks  and  by  Seleucus,  among  others  one  iv  ^icvdaic, 
'AXe^avCpitTxara,  of  which  Pluiy  (vi.,  16)  seems  to  speak  when  he 
says,  "Ultra  Sogdiana,  oppidum  Tarada,  et  in  ultimis  eorum  fini- 
bus  Alexandria  ab  Alexandro  magno  conditum."  That  point  or 
its  vicinity  seems  to  have  marked  the  extreme  limit  of  i:>rogress 
on  that  side  of  all  the  great  conquerors  of  classical  antiquity ; 
for  there,  says  Pliny,  were  altars  placed  by  Hercules,  Bacchus, 
Cyrus,  Semiramis,  and  Alexander:  "Finis  omnium  eorum  ductus 
ab  ilia  parte  terrarum,  includente  flumine  Jaxarte  quod  Scythae 
Silin  vocant."  And  indeed,  with  respect  to  the  city  "  Alexan- 
dreschata,"  Arrian  {Exped.  Alexcmd.,  1.  iv.,  c.  i,,  3,  and  c.  iv.,  10) 
agrees  with  Pliny,  telling  us  that  this  great  hero  intended  it  as 
a  barrier  against  the  people  on  the  farther  bank  of  the  river,  and 
colonized  it  with  Macedonian  veterans,  Greek  mercenaries,  and 
such  of  the  adjacent  barbarians  as  were  so  disposed.  This  city 
was  built  on  the  banks  of  the  Jaxartes,  and  most  consider  it  to 
be  the  modern  Khodjend.  What  if  Oosh  should  have  been  the 
spot  where  stood  the  columns  of  Alexander  ( (7^<rr«<s,  vii.,  6)  ? 
And  yet  the  supposition  that  Alexander  firmly  possessed  him- 
self of  any  land  beyond  the  Jaxartes  is  hardly  consistent  with 
the  account  of  Arrian.  Curtius  (1.  vii.,  9)  describes  the  remains 
of  the  altars  of  Bacchus  as  "  monuments  consisting  of  stones  ar- 
ranged at  numerous  intervals,  and  eight  lofty  trees  with  their 
stems  covered  Avith  ivy." 


Chap.  XIX.  WAR  BETWEEN  BOKHARA  AND  KHOKAND.   439 

eighty  years  at  the  head  of  affairs.  The  institutions 
in  Khokand  bear  very  slight  traces  of  Arabian  or 
Persian  elements,  and  the  Yaszao  Djenghis  (code  of 
Djenghis)  is  the  legal  authority  which  they  follow. 
Here  also  a  singular  ceremonial  deserves  notice. 
The  khan  at  his  coronation  is  raised  in  the  air  upon 
a  white  felt,  and  shoots  arrows  to  the  north,  south, 
east,  and  west.* 

A. 

THE    WAR    BETWEEN    BOKHARA    AND    KHOKAND    IN    THE 
TIME    OF    THE    EMIR    NASRULLAH. 

The  animosity  between  Khokand  and  Bokhara  is 
of  ancient  date.  After  the  Sheibani  family  began  to 
take  the  head  of  affairs  in  Turkestan,  Khokand,  with 
the  exception  of  some  cities  still  held  by  the  Kip- 
tchaks,  was  incorporated  into  the  Khanat  of  Bokha- 
ra. It  tore  itself  away  again  afterward,  and  during 
its  independence  attached  itself  to  its  neighbors, 
Kashgar,  Yarkend,  and  Khoten,  then  also  still  inde- 
pendent ;  but  after  these  latter  states  had  been  them- 
selves incorporated  by  the  Emperor  of  China  into  his 
dominions,  Khokand,  as  its  enemies  to  the  east  seem- 
ed too  powerful,  thought  itself  bound  to  recommence 
its  differences  with  Bokhara,  and  the  war  that  was 
going  on  during  our  stay  in  Central  Asia  was  only 
a  continuation  of  the  struggle  that  Mehemmed  Ali, 

*  It  is  singular  that  this  custom  exists  even  in  the  present  day 
at  the  coronation  of  kings  in  Hungary.  The  king  on  the  Plill  of 
Coronation,  on  horseback,  and  invested  with  all  the  insignia  of 
royalty,  is  required  to  brandish  his  sword  respectively  to  the 
four  points  of  the  compass. 


440  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIX. 

Khan  of  Khokand,  and  his  rival  the  Emir  Nasrullah 
had  begun. 

Mehemmed  Ali  Khan  is  termed  by  the  Khokandi 
their  greatest  monarch  in  recent  times.  While  this 
prince,  by  extending  the  frontiers  and  by  advancing 
internal  prosperity,  had,  on  the  one  hand,  contributed 
much  to  lend  a  certain  splendor  to  his  khanat,  yet, 
on  the  other,  he  had,  in  the  same  degree,  stimulated 
the  envious  cupidity  of  the  wicked  Emir  Nasrullah. 
But  Avhat  most  displeased  the  latter  was  that  the 
khan  should  have  formed  a  friendly  alliance  with 
Khiva,  the  principal  enemy  of  Bokhara,  and  should 
have  given  a  friendly  reception  to  the  emir's  own 
uncle  and 'rival,  who  had  fled  to  Khokand  for  safety. 
Others  also  assign  as  an  additional  cause  the  hospi- 
tality they  had  shown  to  Captain  Conolly ;  but,  in 
any  case,  abundant  ground  of  dissension  existed,  and 
a  rupture  was  regarded  as  inevitable. 

In  1839,  Mehemmed  Ali,  having  defeated  the  Rus- 
sians at  Shehidan,*  considered  a  contest  with  the  emir 
as  near  at  hand  ;  and,  himself  preferring  to  be  the  as- 
sailant, marched  toward  the  frontiers  of  Bokhara  in 
the  vicinity  of  Oratepe,  and  was  already  threatening 
Djizzak  and  Samarcand,  when  the  emir,  after  vainly 
trying  intrigues,  marched  against  him  with  a  superior 
force  of  Ozbeg  horsemen  and  300  of  the  newly-form- 
ed militia  (serbaz),  under  the  conduct  of  their  chief 

*  According  to  the  account  of  this  affair  given  by  the  Kho- 
kandi, a  strong  detachment  of  Cossacks,  after  having  gone  round 
Hazreti  Turkestan  from  the  right  bank  of  the  Jaxartes,  had  ad- 
vanced toward  Tashkend,  and  on  their  march  were  surprised  and 
dispersed  by  the  Khokandi  with  great  loss. 


Chap.  XIX.  RECENT  WARS.  441 

and  organizer,  Abdul-Samed  Khan.  Upon  this  Me- 
hemmed  Ali  held  it  prudent  to  retreat.  Nasrullah 
laid  siege  to  Oratepe,  which,  after  three  months,  he 
took;  but  his  treatment  of  the  inhabitants  made 
them  his  bitterest  enemies ;  and  scarcely  had  he  re- 
turned to  Bokhara,  when,  having  a  secret  understand- 
ing with  Mehemmed  Ali,  they  fell  upon  the  Bokha- 
riot  garrison  and  massacred  all,  soldiers  as  well  as 
officers. 

As  soon  as  the  intelligence  of  this  event  was  con- 
veyed to  Nasrullah,  he  in  the  greatest  haste,  and  in 
still  greater  anger,  called  together  all  his  forces  and 
marched  against  Oratepe.  Mehemmed  Ali  again  re- 
treated, and  was  accompanied  by  a  great  part  of  the 
inhabitants,  who  feared  the  incensed  emir ;  but  this 
time  escape  was  impossible  :  his  enemy  followed  him 
step  by  step  until  he  could  retreat  no  farther.  In 
the  battle  which  then  took  place  at  Khodjend  he  was 
defeated,  and  the  city  became  the  prize  of  the  con- 
queror. The  khan  again  retreated,  but,  finding  him- 
self still  pursued  and  even  his  capital  menaced,  he 
sent  a  flag  of  truce  to  his  victorious  enemy.  A  peace 
was  concluded  at  Kohne  Badem,  by  which  Mehem- 
med Ali  bound  himself  to  cede  Khodjend,  with  many 
other  places.  That  such  conditions  were  little  calcu- 
lated to  lead  to  a  sincere  reconciliation  is  easily  in- 
telligible. The  malicious  emir,  intending  still  farther 
to  offend  his  vanquished  enemy,  named  as  governor 
of  the  conquered  province  the  brother  and  rival  of 
Mehemmed  Ali,  who  had  previously  fled  to  Bokhara. 
But,  nevertheless,  he  was  here  wrong  in  his  calcula- 
tion.    The  mother  of  the  two  Khokandi  princes  rec- 


442  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIX. 

onciled  them,  and,  before  the  emir  had  got  wind  of 
what  had  occurred,  Khodjend  and  the  other  cities 
united  themselves  again  with  Khokand,  and  he  had 
now  to  measure  himself  with  two  enemies  instead  of 
one. 

The  fury  of  the  Bokhariot  tyrant  knew  no  bounds, 
nor  is  it  difficult  to  understand  that  his  thirst  for  re- 
venge would  prompt  him  to  make  extraordinary  ar- 
maments. In  addition  to  his  ordinary  army,  consist- 
ing of  30,000  horsemen  and  1000  serbaz,  he  took  into 
his  pay  10,000  Turkomans  of  the  Tekke  and  Salor 
tribes,  and  hurrying  with  forced  marches  toward  Kho- 
kand, he  took  Mehemmed  Ali  so  by  surprise  that  he 
was  even  obliged  to  fly  from  his  own  capital,  but, 
overtaken  and  made  prisoner  near  Mergolan,  he  was, 
with  his  brother  and  two  sons,  executed  ten  days  aft- 
erward in  his  own  capital.*  After  him  most  of  his 
immediate  partisans  fell  by  the  hands  of  the  execu- 
tioners, and  their  property  was  confiscated.  The 
emir  returned  to  Bokhara  laden  with  booty,  having 
first  left  Ibrahim  Bi,  a  Mervi  by  birth,  with  a  garri- 
son of  2000  soldiers,  in  the  conquered  city. 

Three  months  had  scarcely  elapsed  when  the  Kip- 
tchaks,  who  had,  until  now,  observed  a  neutrality, 
weary  of  the  Bokhariots,  took  the  city,  made  its  gar- 
rison prisoners,  and  set  on  the  throne  Shir  Ali  Khan, 
son  of  Mehemmed  Ali.f     In  order  to  prevent  being 

*  To  excuse  this  act  of  shame,  Nasrullah  spread  the  report 
that  Mehemmed  Ali  had  married  his  own  mother,  and  had  con- 
sequently been  punished  by  death. 

f  The  genealogy  of  the  reigning  house  in  Khokand,  beginning 
with  Mehemmed  Ali,  is  as  follows : 


Chap.  XIX.  THE  EMIR  OVERREACHED.  443 

a  second  time  surprised  as  before,  the  Khokandi  now 
conceived  the  idea  of  surrounding  a  portion  of  the 
city,  where  the  residence  of  the  khan  was,  with  a  wall; 
the  plan  was  soon  carried  out  by  the  forced  labor  of 
the  prisoners  of  war,  who  had  formed  part  of  the 
emir's  garrison.  It  was  to  be  anticipated  that  the 
emir  would  seek  his  revenge ;  no  one,  therefore,  was 
surprised  to  see,  soon  after  this  occurrence,  15,000 
Bokhariots,  under  the  conduct  of  a  Khokandi  pre- 
tender to  the  throne,  an  old  protege  of  Nasrullah, 
make  their  appearance  before  Khokand.  But  even 
on  the  march  Mussulman  Kul  (so  he  was  named)  ap- 
peared to  have  reconciled  himself  with  his  country- 
men ;  the  gates  of  the  city  were  soon  opened  to  him  ; 
and  although  Nasrullah  had  sent  him  hither  with  the 
promise  of  making  him  khan,  his  first  step  was  to 
turn  his  arms  against  that  prince,  and,  joining  with 
his  countrj^men,  to  put  to  flight  the  Bokhariots  who 
had  escorted  him  thither. 

The  emir,  although  now  four  times  overreached, 
still  would  not  give  Avay,  but  again  sent  an  army  un- 
der the  command  of  Shahrukh  Khan,  who  already 

Mehemmed  Ali  (1841), 
Shir  Ali. 


(«)  By  first  Wife.         {b)  By  second  Wife. 


Mollah  Khan.  Sarimsak.       Sultan  Miirad,       Khudayar, 

Sofi  Beg.  I  |. 

Shah  Murad.  Several 

young 
children. 


444  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIX. 

held  the  rank  of  commander-in-chief.'^  But  the  lat- 
ter did  not  advance  beyond  Oratepe,  for  the  news 
that  the  emir  had  fallen  sick  at  Samarcand,  and  had 
subsequently  returned  to  Bokhara,  put  an  end  to  the 
whole  campaign.  A  few  days  after  the  illness  had 
attacked  the  prince,  the  world  was  freed  by  his  death 
of  one  of  the  greatest  of  tyrants. 

I  heard  from  good  authority  that  the  death  of  the 
Emir  Nasrullah  was  solely  owing  to  a  paroxysm  of 
rage  at  the  constant  ill  success  that  attended  his  cam- 
paigns against  Khokand,  and  the  unprecedented  ob- 
stinacy with  which  the  city  of  Shehri  Sebzf  resisted ; 
for,  although  he  had  taken  the  field  thirty  times 
against  it,  and  had  been  then  besieging  it  six  months, 
it  was  all  without  effect.  Upon  this  occasion  his 
adversary  was  a  certain  Veliname,  whose  sister  he 
had  married  to  obtain  by  the  connection  a  faithful 
vassal  in  the  brother  of  his  wife.  Now  it  happened 
that  the  news  of  the  capture  reached  the  emir  when 
on  his  death-bed;  although  half  senseless,  the  tyrant 
ordered  his  rebel  brother-in-law  to  be  put  to  death, 

*  The  infamous  Abdul  Samecl  Klian,  the  murderer  of  ConoUy, 
Stoddart,  and  Naselli,  had  in  the  mean  time  been  overtaken  by 
a  righteous  punishment.  The  emir,  who  had  sent  him  to  Shehri 
Sebz,  was  at  last  convinced  of  his  treason,  and,  not  being  able  to 
reach  him  by  forcible  means,  sought  to  employ  artifice  to  get 
possession  of  his  pei'son.  Abdul  Samed  evaded  his  fate  a  long 
time,  but  finally  fell  into  the  snare  laid  for  him,  and,  aware  of  the 
presence  of  the  executioner  in  the  anteroom,  he  rent  up  his  belly 
with  his  own  poniard,  to  irritate  by  his  death  a  master  so  like 
himself  in  character. 

f  Shehri  Sebz,  previously  named  Kesh,  is  the  native  city  of 
Timour,  and  renowned  for  the  warlike  character  of  its  inhabit- 
ants. 


Chap.  XIX.     WAR  BETWEEN  BOKHARA  AND  KHOKAND.        445 

with  all  his  children.  But,  as  circumstances  prevent- 
ed hi  in  from  feasting  his  eyes  with  that  spectacle  of 
blood,  in  the  evening,  a  few  hours  before  his  death, 
he  summoned  to  his  presence  his  wife,  the  sister  of 
Veliname ;  the  unhappy  woman,  who  had  borne  him 
two  children,  trembled,  but  the  dying  emir  was  not 
softened.  She  was  executed  close  to  his  couch,  and 
the  abominable  tyrant  breathed  his  last  breath  with 
his  glazing  eye  fixed  upon  the  gushing  blood  of  the 
sister  of  his  detested  enemy. 

B. 

THE   WAR    BETWEEN   BOKHARA   AND    KHOKAND  WAGED 
BY   THE    EMIR    MOZAFFAR-ED-DIN. 

In  the  mean  time  affairs  in  Khokand  had  taken 
a  different  turn.  Mussulman  Kul  had  been  put  to 
death,  and  in  his  place  Khudayar  Khan  had  been 
raised  to  the  "white  felt."  At  his  first  accession 
the  latter  showed  great  ardor  and  activity.  He  was 
engaged  victoriously  in  several  combats  with  the 
Russians,  who  were  pressing  on  from  the  Jaxartes. 
While  he  was  thus  occupied  on  the  frontiers,  Mollah 
Khan  was  nominated  khan  in  his  capital ;  but,  as  he 
had  only  inconsiderable  forces  to  oppose  to  those  of 
his  rival,  he  thought  it  better  to  fly  to  Bokhara,  and 
seek  the  aid  of  the  Emir  Mozaffar-ed-din  for  the  re- 
covery of  his  throne.  This  prince,  immediately  after 
the  death  of  his  father,  besieged  the  city  Shehri  Sebz, 
which,  in  spite  of  the  vengeance  of  which  it  had  al- 
ready been  the  object,  and  the  blood  that  had  flowed 
there,  was  again  in  open  revolt.  He  was  before  the 
walls  of  Tchirao;tchi,  a  stronf]r-hold  belon^ins;  to  Sheh- 


446  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XIX. 

ri  Sebz,  when  the  intelligence  reached  him  that  the 
governor  of  Oratepe,  a  native  of  Shehri  Sebz,  had 
allied  himself  with  the  Khokandi,  and  that  Mollah 
Khan  was  already  marching  at  their  head  against 
Djizzak. 

The  Emir  MozaiFar-ed-din,  urged  on  by  his  guest 
and  protege,  Khudayar  Khan,  could  not  restrain  him- 
self. He  abandoned  his  position  before  Shehri  Sebz, 
although  he  was  pressing  it  hard,  and  rushed  at  the 
head  of  15,000  men  against  Khokand,  whose  khan 
(Mollah  Khan)  threatened,  from  his  acknowledged 
ability,  to  prove  a  formidable  antagonist.  Adopt- 
ing the  unscrupulous  policy  of  his  father,  Mozaflfar- 
ed-din  caused  him  to  be  assassinated  in  a  conspiracy 
which  the  emir  had  himself  set  on  foot.  In  the  great 
confusion  that  ensued  he  next  made  himself  master 
of  the  capital,  and  then  set  Khudayar  at  the  head  of 
the  government,  after  the  legitimate  heir,  Shahmn- 
rad,  had  fled  to  the  Kiptchaks. 

Khudayar  Khan  had  scarcely  exercised  four 
months  the  royal  functions  so  new  to  him,  when 
the  Kiptchak,  with  Shahmurad  at  their  head,  assail- 
ed, and  forced  him  a  second  time  to  fly  to  Bokhara. 
The  emir,  seeing  himself  so  slighted  and  mocked  at 
in  his  character  as  protector,  hastily  assembled  all 
his  forces  to  wreak  his  vengeance  ujDon  Khokand  in 
some  exemplary  manner;  and  after  having  sent  on 
before  him  Shahrukh  Khan  with  40,000  men,  and 
Mehemmed  Hasan  Bey  with  thirty  pieces  of  artille- 
ry, he  hastened  after  them  himself,  escorted  by  a  few 
hundred  Tekke,  with  the  fixed  design  not  to  return 
until  he  had  reduced  under  his  sceptre  all  as  far  as 
the  frontiers  of  China. 


Chap.  XIX.  KHUDAYAR  KHAN.— CIVIL  WARS.  447 

In  Khokand  the  firm  intention  of  the  young  emir 
was  well  known,  so  also  was  his  cupidity ;  and  he 
met,  accordingly,  Avith  the  most  resolute  resistance. 
The  ulemas  pronounced  the  emir,  Avho  was  invading 
their  country,  to  be  kafir  (an  unbeliever),  and  preach- 
ed against  him  the  djihad  (war  of  religion).  All 
flew  to  arms,  but  in  vain,  The  emir  attached  to  his 
own  dominions  not  only  Khokand,  but  all  the  terri- 
tory as  far  as  the  Chinese  frontiers.  The  greatest 
resistance  which  he  met  with  was  from  the  Kip- 
tchaks,  under  their  chieftain  Alem  Kul.  These  were 
attacked  by  the  Turkomans ;  and  the  combat  that 
ensued  must  have  proved  highly  interesting,  for  two 
of  the  most  savage  of  the  primitive  races  of  Tartary 
stood  there  face  to  face.  After  the  death  of  the 
Alem  Kul  in  the  battle,  his  wife  set  herself  at  the 
head  of  the  horde.  The  war  was  continued  ;  but  at 
last  a  peace  was  made  with  the  emir.  The  khanat, 
from  which  the  conqueror  had  sent  all  the  cannon, 
and  immense  stores  of  arms  and  treasures,  to  Bokha- 
ra, was  divided  into  two  parts.  Khokand  fell  to  the 
share  of  Shahmurad,  the  darling  of  the  Kiptchaks, 
Khodjend  to  Khudayar  Khan.  Mozaffar-ed-din  re- 
turned to  his  capital.  I  met  him  on  his  way  thither 
on  August  15,  1863. 

Since  this  time,  yet  so  recent,  Khokand  has  prob- 
ably experienced  several  other  changes.  Similar  dis- 
sensions formerly  occurred  between  Kashgar,  Khoten, 
and  Yarkend ;  and  as  those  continued  until  all  their 
territory  was  incorporated  by  China,  so  is  it  here 
probable  that  Russian  occupation  will  soon  put  an 
end  to  these  miserable  civil  wars. 


448  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XX. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

CHINESE     TARTAR  T. 

APPROACH   FROM    THE    WEST. — ADMINISTRATION. — INHABITANTS. — CITIES. 

The  traveler  who  journeys  on  during  twelve  days 
in  an  easterly  direction  from  Oosh  will  reach  the  Chi- 
nese territory  at  the  point  where  stands  the  city  of 
Kashgar.  The  way  thither  leads  him  over  a  mount- 
ainous country,  where  the  Kiptchaks  are  wandering 
about  with  their  herds.  No  villages,  it  is  said,  ever 
existed  in  this  district,  except  in  the  time  of  Djenghis 
Khan,  and  then  only  here  and  there.  At  the  pres- 
ent day  it  is  not  possible  to  trace  even  their  ruins. 
Places  blackened  by  fire  and  heaps  of  stones  indicate 
the  spots  used  by  travelers  and  caravans  for  their  sta- 
tions. Although  the  Kiptchaks  are  wild  and  warlike, 
they  do  not  attack  solitary  travelers.  Large  caravans 
coming  from  China  are  bound  to  pay  a  moderate  trib- 
ute ;  in  other  respects,  no  one  is  disturbed.  At  the 
distance  of  a  single  day's  journey  from  Kashgar  one 
arrives  at  a  block-house,  the  first  post  of  the  Chinese, 
occupied  by  10  soldiers  and  an  accountant.  No  one 
is  permitted  to  proceed  unless  furnished  with  a  pass 
drawn  up  by  the  aksakal  in  Namengan,  who  acts  as 
a  sort  of  paid  agent  for  the  Chinese.  After  the  trav- 
eler has  exhibited  his  pass,  he  is  interrogated  in  detail 
respecting  every  thing  that  he  has  seen  and  heard  in 


Chap.  XX.  CHINESE  TARTARY.  449 

foreign  parts.  The  accountant  makes  two  copies  of 
the  report ;  one  is  given  to  the  nearest  post,  to  be 
compared  with  the  answer  to  a  similar  interrogation 
there :  this  document  is  forwarded  to  the  governor 
whom  it  concerns.  According  to  the  statements  of 
Hadji  Bilal  and  my  other  friends,  in  Chinese  Tartary 
it  is  most  advisable,  on  such  occasions,  to  employ  the 
formula  "Belmey-men"  (I  know  not).'''  It  is  not  the 
practice  to  force  a  man  to  reply  in  detail,  and,  indeed, 
no  one  has  power  to  compel  him  to  do  so,  and  the 
accountant  himself  prefers  the  shorter  answer,  which 
lightens  the  functions  he  has  to  perform. 

Under  the  name  of  Chinese  Tartary  we  generally 
understand  that  angular  point  of  the  Chinese  Empire 
that  stretches  away  to  its  west  toward  the  central  pla- 
teau of  Asia,  and  which  is  bounded  on  the  north  by 
the  great  hordes  of  Kirghis,  and  in  the  south  by  Be- 
dakhshan.  Cashmere,  and  Thibet.  The  country  from 
Hi  to  Kohne  Turfan  is  said  to  have  been  subject  to 
the  sovereignty  of  China  for  several  centuries ;  but 
it  is  only  150  years  since  Kashgar,  Yarkend,  Aksu, 
and  Khoten  have  been  incorporated.  These  cities  had 
been  continually  at  war  with  one  another,  until  sev- 
eral of  the  leading  personages,  with  the  Yarkend  chief, 
Ibrahim  Bey,  at  their  head,  desirous  to  put  an  end  to 

*  The  Chinese  have  besides  a  proverb  quite  in  accordance  Avith 
this  rule,  for  they  say, 

"Bedjidu  yikha  le 
Djidu  shi  kha-le." 

"I  know  not,  is  one  word;  I  know,  is  ten  words;"  that  is  to  say, 
"Saying  'I know  not,'  you  have  said  every  thing;  but  saying  'I 
know,'  your  interrogator  will  put  more  questions,  and  you  will 
have  necessarily  more  to  say." 

Ff 


450  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Cuap.  XX. 

the  dissensions,  called  in  the  Chinese,  who,  after  long 
hesitating,  assumed  the  sovereignty,  and  have  govern- 
ed these  cities  upon  a  different  system  from  that  in 
force  in  the  other  provinces  of  the  Celestial  Empire. 

{a. )  Administration. 
As  I  heard  from  an  authentic  source  (for,  as  I  have 
stated,  my  friend  and  informant,  Hadji  Bilal,  was  the 
chief  priest  of  the  governor),  each  of  these  provinces 
had  two  authorities,  one  Chinese  and  military,  the 
other  Tartar-Mussulman  and  civil.  Their  chiefs  are 
equal  in  rank,  but  the  Tartar  is  so  far  subordinate  to 
the  Chinese  that  it  is  only  through  the  latter  that 
one  can  communicate  with  the  supreme  authority  at 
Pekin.  The  Chinese  officials  inhabit  the  fortified 
part  of  the  city,  and  consist  of, 

1.  Anban,  who  is  distinguished  by  a  ruby  button  on 
his  cap,  and  by  a  peacock  feather.  His  yearly  salary 
is  36  yambu,*  about  £800.     Under  him  are  the 

2.  Da-lui,  secretaries,  four  in  number,  of  whom  the 
first  has  the  superintendence  of  the  correspondence, 
the  second  the  administration  of  the  expenditure,  the 
third  the  penal  code,  and  the  fourth  the  police. 

3.  Dji-zo-fang,  keeper  of  the  archives. 

The  court  of  the  supreme  Chinese  officer  is  denom- 
inated ya-mun,  and  is  accessible  at  all  times  to  every 
one  who  wishes  to  prefer  his  complaint  against  any 
subordinate  officer  for  maladministration,  or  in  any 
other  case  of  supposed  failure  of  justice.     And  here 

*  A  yambu  is  a  massive  piece  of  silver  with  two  ears  or  han- 
dles, in  form  like  our  weights.  In  Bokhara  it  is  taken  for  forty 
tilla. 


Chap.  XX.  CORPS  OF  OFFICIALS.  451 

we  meet  with  a  characteristic  trait  of  Chinese  govern- 
ment. Immediately  before  the  gate  of  the  court  stands 
a  colossal  drum:  this  every  plaintiff  strikes  once  if  his 
desire  is  to  summon  a  secretary,  whereas  he  must  beat 
twice  if  his  intention  is  to  see  the  anban  himself. 
Whether  it  be  day  or  night,  summer  or  winter,  the 
sound  of  distress  must  be  attended  to,  or  at  least  very 
rarely  is  it  neglected.  Even  in  Europe  such  a  mode 
of  summoning,  I  think,  might  be  desirable  in  the  case 
of  many  a  drowsy  functionary  of  justice.    ,. 

The  Tartar-Mussulman  corps  of  ojfficials  intrusted 
with  the  administration  of  justice  in  civil  cases,  with 
the  collection  of  the  taxes  and  customs,  or  other  such 
functions  touching  their  domestic  concerns,  and  which 
do  not  devolve  upon  the  Chinese  authorities,  are  as 
follows : 

1.  Vang,  or  hakim,  upon  the  same  footing  as  the 
anban  both  as  to  rank  and  pay. 

2.  Haznadji,  or  gaznadji  as  he  is  designated  by  the 
Tartars,  who  has  the  control  and  insjDcction  of  the 
revenue. 

3.  Ishkaga  (the  word  signifies  door-keeper),  a  sort 
of  master  of  ceremonies,  chamberlain,  and  chief  in- 
tendant. 

4.  Shangbeghi,  a  kind  of  secretary,  interpreter, 
and  functionary,  serving  as  medium  between  the  Chi- 
nese and  Mussulman  authorities. 

5.  Kazi  beg,  the  kadi  or  judge. 

6.  Ortengbeghi,  post-master,  responsible  for  all  the 
post-houses  existing  in  his  district.  The  system  of 
posts  in  the  country  has  much  resemblance  with  the 
Persian  tchapar;  the  government  farms  out  certain 


452  TEAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap,  XX. 

roads,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  post-master  to  take  care 
that  the  farmers  of  them  every  where  provide  good 
horses  for  the  public  service.  The  distance  from  Kash- 
gar  to  Komul  is  reckoned  40  stations,  which  the  orteng 
performs  generally  in  16,  but,  on  extraordinary  emer- 
gencies, in  12  or  even  10  days.  From  Komul  to  Pe- 
kin  is  counted  60  stations,  which  may  also  be  perform- 
ed in  15  days,  consequently  the  whole  distance  from 
Kashgar  to  Pekin,  which  is  a  journey  of  100  stations, 
is  usually^erformed  by  the  courier  in  about  a  month,* 
7.  Badjghir,  collector  of  customs. 

[h.)  Inhabitants. 
The  greater  part  of  the  population  of  Chinese  Tar- 
tary,  that  is  to  say,  of  the  four  provinces,  occupy  fixed 
habitations,  and  busy  themselves  with  agriculture. 
With  respect  to  nationality,  they  style  themselves 
Ozbegs,  but  the  first  glance  detects  their  Kalmuk 
origin.  Ozbegs,  in  the  sense  understood  in  Bokhara 
and  Khiva,  have  never  existed  in  Chinese  Tartary. 
When  the  word  is  used  here,  it  signifies  a  mixed  race 
that  has  sprung  from  the  union  of  Kalmuks,  who  in- 
vaded the  country  from  the  north,  and  of  Kirghis, 
with  the  original  inhabitants  of  Persian  race ;  and 

*  It  is  remarkable  that  the  postillions,  almost  always  Kalmuks, 
are  able  to  accomplish  these  sharp  rides,  consisting  each  of  thirty 
days  and  thirty  nights,  several  times  each  year.  "With  ns  such  a 
performance  on  horseback  would  be  regarded  as  something  extra- 
ordinary. The  ride  of  Charles  XII.  from  Demotika  to  Stralsund, 
and  that  of  the  Turkish  courier  from  Szigetvar  (in  Hungary, 
where  Solyman  the  Magnificent  died)  to  Kutahia  in  eight  days, 
are  famous  in  history.  For  the  first,  see  Voltaire's  "Life  of 
Charles  XII. ;"  and  for  the  second,  "  Saadeddin  Tadj  et  Tevarikh." 


Chap.  XX.  INHABITANTS.  453 

it  deserves  particular  mention,  that  in  places  where 
the  ancient  Persian  population  was  thicker  (now  it 
has  entirely  vanished),  the  Irani  type  is  more  domi- 
nant than  in  the  contrary  case.  Next  to  these  pseu- 
do-Ozbegs  come  the  Kalmuks  and  the  Chinese.  The 
former  are  either  military  or  lead  the  life  of  nomads; 
the  latter,  who  occupy  themselves  Avith  commerce  and 
handicrafts,  are  merely  to  be  found  in  the  principal 
cities,  and  there  only  in  insignificant  numbers.  Last- 
ly, we  must  also  name  the  Tungani  or  Tongheni,  who 
are  spread  over  the  country  from  Hi  to  far  beyond 
Komul.  In  nationality  they  are  Chinese ;  in  relig- 
ion, however,  Mussulmans,  and  belonging  all  to  the 
Shafei  sect.*  Tungani  or  Tongheni  means,  in  the  di- 
alect of  Chinese  Tartary,  converts  (in  Osmanli  Turk- 
ish, donme),  and,  as  is  confidently  asserted,  these  Chi- 
nese, wlio  count  a  million  of  souls,  were  converted  in 
the  time  of  Timour  by  an  Arabian  adventurer,  who 
came  with  the  above-named  conqueror  from  Damas- 
cus to  Central  Asia,  and  roamed  about  in  Chinese 
Tartary  as  a  wonder-working  saint.  These  Tungani 
distinguish  themselves  not  only  by  their  gross  fanat- 
icism, but  by  their  hate  for  those  of  their  countrymen 
who  are  not  Mussulmans  ;  and  in  spite  of  their  con- 
stituting the  most  advanced  post  of  Islam  on  the  side 
of  the  east,  they  nevertheless  send  every  year  a  strong 
contingent  of  hadjis  to  Mecca. 

As  for  the  general  character  of  the  population,  I 

*  The  Snnnites  number  four  mezheb  (sects)  among  themselves, 
i.  e.,  Hanifei,  Shafei,  Maleki,  and  Hambali.  All  four  stand  in  equal 
estimation,  and  to  give  the  preference  to  any  one  is  regarded  as  a 
gin. 


454  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XX. 

found  the  Chinese  Tartar  honest,  timid,  and,  to  speak 
plainly,  bordering  upon  stupidity;  his  relation  to  the 
inhabitants  of  the  other  cities  in  Central  Asia  is  about 
the  same  as  that  of  the  Bokhariot  to  the  Parisian  or 
the  Londoner.  Extremely  modest  in  their  aspira- 
tions, my  fellow-travelers  have  yet  often  delighted  me 
by  the  enthusiastic  terms  which  they  used  when  they 
spoke  of  their  poor  homes.  The  splendor  and  lavish 
exj)enditure  discernible  in  Roum  and  Persia,  and  even 
Bokhara,  displease  them ;  and  although  they  are  gov- 
erned by  a  people  differing  from  themselves  in  lan- 
guage and  religion,  still  they  prefer  their  own  to  the 
Mussulman  government  in  the  three  khanats.  But  it 
would  really  seem  as  if  they  had  no  cause  to  be  dissat- 
isfied with  the  Chinese.  Every  one  from  the  age  of 
fifteen  years  upward,  with  the  exception  of  khodjas 
(descendants  of  the  Prophet)  and  mollahs,  pay  to  gov- 
ernment a  yearly  capitation  tax  of  five  tenghe  (three 
shillings).  The  soldiers*  are  enlisted,  but  not  by  com- 
pulsion ;  and  the  Mussulman  regiments  have  besides 
the  advantage  of  remaining  unmixed  and  forming 
a  single  body,  and,  except  in  some  little  external 
points,  fare  not  in  the  slightest  degree  interfered  with. 

*  I  am  told  that  there  are  at  present  in  the  four  districts  of 
Chinese  Tartary  about  120,000  soldiers,  forming  the  garrisons  of 
the  four  principal  towns.  One  part  of  them,  armed  with  spear 
and  sword,  is  called  Tchan-ping ;  the  others,  who  bear  muskets, 
are  known  by  the  designation  of  Shuva. 

f  Such,  for  instance,  as  (1.)  the  robes  being  made  to  reach  the 
knees,  and  of  blue  linen,  a  costume  regarded  by  the  Mussulmans 
with  abhorrence  as  distinctive  marks  of  the  Chinese ;  (2.)  the 
l)ermitting  the  mustache  to  grow,  whereas  Islam  rigidly  enjoins 
that  the  hair  covering  the  upper  lip  shall  be  cut  close. 


CiiAi-.  XX.  SOCIAL  RELATIONS.  455 

But  the  higher  officials  do  not  escape  so  easily;  they 
are  obliged  to  wear  the  dress  prescribed  to  their  rank, 
long  mustaches,  and  pigtail ;  and,  most  dreadful  of 
all,  they  must  on  holidays  appear  in  the  pagodas,  and 
f)erform  a  sort  of  homage  before  the  unveiled  portrait 
of  the  emperor,  by  touching  the  ground  three  times 
with  the  forehead.  The  Mussulmans  assert  that  their, 
countrymen  filling  high  offices  hold  on  such  occasions, 
concealed  between  their  fingers,  a  small  scrap  of  pa- 
per, with  "Mecca"  written  upon  it,  and  that  by  this 
sleight  of  hand  their  genuflexion  becomes  an  act  of 
veneration,  not  to  the  sovereign  of  the  Celestial  Em- 
pire, but  to  the  holy  city  of  the  Arabian  Prophet. 

In  social  matters  it  is  easy  to  conceive  how  two 
such  discordant  elements  as  the  Chinese  and  Mussul- 
mans live  together.  Warm,  friendly  relations  seem, 
under  the  circumstances,  impossible ;  but  I  fancy  that 
I  can  discern,  nevertheless,  that  no  peculiar  animosity 
exists  between  the  two  classes.  The  Chinese,  who 
are  the  minority,  never  allow  the  Tartars  to  feel  that 
they  are  rulers,  and  the  authorities  distinguish  them- 
selves by  the  greatest  impartiality.  As  conversion 
to  the  dominant  religion  is  singularly  displeasing  to 
the  Chinese,  it  is  not  surprising  that  their  efforts  care- 
fully tend  not  only  to  make  the  Mussulmans  exact  in 
the  performance  of  their  religious  duties,  but  to  pun- 
ish severely  those  who,  in  this  respect,  offend.  Does 
a  Mussulman  omit  to  pray,  the  Chinese  are  wont  to 
say  to  him,  "Behold  how  ungrateful  thou  art;  we 
have  some  hundreds  of  gods,  and,  nevertheless,  we 
satisfy  them  all.  Thou  pretendest  to  have  but  one 
God,  and  yet  that    one    thou  canst  not  content!" 


456  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XX. 

Even  the  mollahs,  as  I  often  had  occasion  to  observe, 
extol  the  conscientiousness  of  the  Chinese  oflBcials, 
although  they  deal  with  their  religion  in  the  most 
unsparing  terms.  So,  also,  the  Tartars  are  never 
tired  of  praising  the  art  and  cleverness  of  their  rul- 
ers, and  there  is  no  end  to  their  laudatory  strains 
when  they  once  begin  to  speak  upon  the  subject  of 
the  power  of  the  djong  kafir  (great  unbelievers),  i.  e., 
the  genuine  Chinese.* 

And  is  it.  not  again  most  astonishing  that  all  the 
followers  of  Islamism,  including  those  who  are  far- 
thest to  the  west,  as  well  as  those  to  be  found  on 
its  most  distant  eastern  boundaries,  whether  Turks, 
Arabs,' Persians,  Tartars,  or  Ozbegs,  ridicule,  and 
mock  at  their  own  faults  just  in  the  same  degree  as 
they  praise  and  extol  the  virtues  and  merits  of  the 
nations  not  Mohammedan?  This  is  the  account  I 
heard  every  where.  They  admit  that  taste  for  the 
arts,  humanity,  and  unexampled  love  of  justice  are 
attributes  of  the  kafir  (unbelievers),  and  yet  you  hear 
them,  with  their  eyes  glancing  fire,  using  an  expres- 
sion like  that  attributed  to  a  Frenchman  after  the 
battle  of  Kosbach,  "God  be  praised  that  I  am  a 
Mussulman  !  "f 

*  The  taking  of  Pekin  by  the  Anglo-French  army  has  not  re- 
mained hidden  from  them.  When  I  asked  Hadji  Bilal  how  that 
was  reconcilable  with  the  boasted  omnipotence  of  the  Chinese, 
he  observed  that  the  Frenghis  had  employed  cunning,  and  had 
begun  by  stupefying  all  the  inhabitants  of  Pekin  with  opium, 
and  then  had  naturally  and  easily  made  their  way  into  the  slum- 
bering city. 

f  "  El  hamdti  lilla  ena  Mtiszlim." 


Chap.  XX.  CITIES.— THE  KHOKANDI  KHODJA.  457 

(c.)  Cities. 
Among  the  cities,  of  which  we  give  a  list  in  the 
account  of  routes  in  Chinese  Tartary,  the  most  flour- 
ishing are  Khoten  and  Yarkencl.  The  largest  are 
Turfan  Hi  and  Komul ;  and  the  objects  of  most  pi- 
ous veneration,  Aksu  and  Kashgar.  In  the  last, 
which  boasts  105  mosques  (probably,  however,  only 
mud  huts  destined  for  prayer),  and  twelve  medresse, 
there  is  the  venerated  tomb  of  Hazreti  Afak,  the  na- 
tional saint  of  Chinese  Tartary.  Hazreti  Afak  means 
"his  highness  the  horizon,''  a  phrase  by  which  is 
meant  to  be  expressed  the  infinity  of  the  talents  of 
the  saint.  His  actual  name  was  Khodja  Sadik.  He 
contributed  much  to  form  the  religious  character  of 
the  Tartars.  It  is  said  that  Kashgar  originally  was 
more  considerable,  and  that  its  population  was  more 
numerous  than  is  the  case  at  present.  This  decay  is 
owing  alone  to  the  invasion  of  the  Khokandi  Khod- 
ja, who  every  year  surprise  the  city,  drive  the  Chi- 
nese into  their  fortifications,  and  remain  there  plun- 
dering and  despoiling,  until  the  besieged  garrison  have 
dispatched  their  formal  interrogatory  to  Pekin,  and 
have  obtained  official  permission  to  assume  the  of- 
fensive. The  Khokandi  Khodja,  a  troop  of  greedy 
adventurers,  have  thus  for  years  been  in  the  habit  of 
plundering  the  city,  and  yet  the  Chinese  never  cease 
to  be  Chinese. 


458  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XXI. 


CHAPTEE  XXI. 

COMMUNICATION   OF  CENTRAL  ASIA  WITH   RUSSIA,  PERSIA,  AND   INDIA. — ROUTES 
IN   THE    THREE    KHANATS    AND    CHINESE    TARTART. 

Of  all  the  foreign  countries  with  which  Central 
Asia  is  in  relation,  Russia  is  that  with  which  it  has 
the  most  active  correspondence. 

(a)  From  Khiva  the  caravans  proceed  to  Astra- 
]<:han  and  Orenburg,  whence  many  wealthy  merchants 
reach  Nishnei  Novogorod,  and  even  St.  Petersburg. 

(h)  From  Bokhara  an  uninterrupted  correspond- 
ence—  particularly  active  in  summer  —  is  kept  up 
with  Orenburg.  This  is  the  most  usual  journey, 
and  is  performed  in  from  fifty  to  sixty  days.  Ex- 
traordinary circumstances  may,  indeed,  render  it  lon- 
ger or  shorter ;  but,  except  in  times  of  unusual  dis- 
turbances among  the  Kirghis,  even  the  smallest  cara- 
vans undertake  it. 

(c)  From  Tashkend  caravans  go  to  Orenburg  and 
Kizil  Djar  (Petropavlosk).  They  reach  the  first  in 
from  fifty  to  sixty  days,  and  the  latter  in  from  fifty 
to  seventy.  These  are  always  the  most  numerous 
caravans,  the  district  they  traverse  being  the  most 
dangerous. 

(d)  The  route  from  Namengan  and  Aksu  to  Pulat 
(Semipalatinsk)  is  frequented,  for  the  most  part,  by 
Khokandi  caravans,  which  proceed  under  strong  es- 
cort, and  arrive  at  their  destination  in  forty  days. 


Chap.  XXI.      COMMUNICATION  WITH  RUSSIA,  ETC.  459 

Solitary  travelers  may  pass  among  the  Kirgliis  un- 
molested. Of  course,  I  mean  when  they  travel  like 
dervishes.  Many  of  my  fellow -travelers  had  per- 
formed the  journey  to  Mecca  by  Semipalatinsk,  Oren- 
burg, Kasan,  and  Constantinople. 

Thus  far  I  have  spoken  of  the  communications  of 
Central  Asia  toward  the  north.  Toward  the  south 
they  are  far  less  important.  Khiva  is  accustomed 
to  send  one  or  two  small  caravans  to  Persia  by  the 
way  of  Astrabad  and  Deregoz.  Bokhara  shows 
someAvhat  more  activity;  but  no  caravans  have 
passed  by  Merv  to  Meshed  during  the  last  two  years, 
the  Tekke  having  interrupted  all  communication. 
The  most  frequented  route  is  by  Herat,  at  which  city 
the  caravans  separate,  accordingly  as  they  proceed  to 
Persia  or  Afghanistan  and  India.  The  way  by  Kar- 
shi  and  Balkh  to  Kabul  is  only  of  secondary  import- 
ance, because  the  difficulties  of  surmounting  the  Hin- 
dukush  offer  constant  and  serious  obstacles,  and  dur- 
ing the  last  two  years  this  route  has  not  been  much 
frequented. 

Besides  the  above-named  communication  on  a 
great  scale,  we  must  mention  the  slender  thread  of 
correspondence  maintained  by  single  pilgrims  or  beg- 
gars from  the  most  hidden  parts  of  Turkestan  with 
the  remotest  parts  of  Asia.  Nothing  is  more  inter- 
esting than  these  vagabonds,  who  leave  their  native 
nests  without  a  farthing  in  their  pockets  to  journey 
for  thousands  of  miles  in  countries  of  which  they 
previously  hardly  know  the  names,  and  among  na- 
tions entirely  different  from  their  own  in  physiogno- 
my, language,  and  customs.     Without  farther  consid- 


460  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XXI. 

eration,  a  poor  inhabitant  of  Central  Asia,*  following 
the  suggestions  of  one  sole  dream,  betakes  himself  to 
Arabia,  and  even  to  the  most  westerly  parts  of  the 
Turkish  Empire.  He  has  nothing  to  lose.  He  seeks 
to  see  the  world,  and  so  follows  blindly  his  instinct. 
The  world  I  say,  but  I  mean  his  world,  beginning 
Avith  China,  and  ending  with  the  limits  of  the  Turk- 
ish Empire.  As  for  Europe,  he  admits,  indeed,  that 
it  may  be  beautiful,  but  he  regards  it  as  so  filled  with 
magic  and  diabolical  arts  that  he  would  never  ven- 
ture thither,  even  though  he  held  in  his  hand  the 
surest  thread  to  guide  him  on  his  way  through  so 
perilous  a  labyrinth. 

Experience  convinced  me  that  the  farther  we  ad- 
vance in  Turkestan,  the  greater  is  the  disposition  to 
perform  these  annual  pilgrimages  and  toilsome  jour- 
neys. The  number  of  the  hadjis  proceeding  yearly 
from  Khiva  is,  on  an  average,  from  ten  to  fifteen ; 
from  Bokhara,  thirty  to  forty ;  but  from  Khokand 
and  Chinese  Tartary,  between  seventy  and  eighty. 
If  we  add  thereto  the  rage  of  the  Persians  for  pil- 
grimages to  the  holy  places  in  Meshed,  Kerbela, 
Kom,  and  Mecca,  it  is  impossible  not  to  be  surprised 
at  the  great  zeal  in  favor  of  such  ramblings  still 
prevalent  in  Asia.  The  seed  from  which  sprang  the 
migi'ation  of  its  ancient  races  continues  still  to  exist, 

*  I  say  poor,  for  the  rich  rarely  submit  to  the  toil  and  incon- 
venience of  a  pilgrimage;  but  they  have  an  expedient,  for  they 
find  deputies.  Their  representatives,  supplied  with  the  necessa- 
ry funds,  are  sent  on  to  Mecca,  where  in  their  prayers  they  sub- 
stitute the  name  of  the  sender  for  their  own,  but  the  latter  only 
so  far  profits  that  he  has  the  honor  after  his  decease  of  having 
engraved  upon  his  tomb  the  afiix  to  his  name,  "  Hadji." 


Chap.  XXI.        EOUTES  IN  THE  THREE  KHANATS.  461 

and,  but  for  the  civilization  of  the  West  and  its 
mighty  influence,  that  press  closely  u*pon  Asia  on 
all  sides,  who  knows  what  revolutions  might  not  al- 
ready have  taken  place ! 

THE  ROUTES  IN  THE  THREE  KHANATS. 

A. 

Routes  in  the  Khanat  of  Khiva  and  the  adja- 
cent Country. 

1.  From  Khiva  to  Gomushtepe. 
(a)  Ortayolu,  the  middle  of  the  three  routes  indi- 
cated by  me  in  the  commencement  of  my  work,  and 
which  I  myself  took,  has  the  following  stations,  and 
can  be  traversed  easily  on  horseback  in  fourteen  or 
fifteen  days. 

1.  Akyap.  10.  TJlu  Balkan. 

2.  Medemin.  11.  Kitchig  Balkan. 

3.  Shor  Gol  (lake).  12.  Korentaghi  (a  mount- 

4.  Kaftankir.  ain  chain). 

5.  Dehli  Ata.  13.  Kizil  Takir. 

6.  Kahriman  Ata.  14.  Bogdayla. 
1.  Koymat  Ata.  15.  Etrek. 

8.  Yeti  Siri.  16.  Gomtishtepe. 

9.  Djenak. 

{h)  The  route  termed  Tekke  Yolu  can  be  traversed 
on  horseback  in  ten  days,  and  is  said  to  consist  of 
the  following  stations : 

1.  Medemin.  6.  Chirlalar. 

2.  Doden,  7.  Chin  Mohammed. 

3.  Shahsenem.  8.  Sazlik. 

4.  Ortakuju.  9.  Etrek. 

5.  Alty  Kuyruk.  10.  Gomushtepe. 


462 


TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA. 


Chap.  XXI. 


This  route  seems  infested  by  the  Turkoman  ala- 
mans;  the  reason  appears  clear,  because  by  the  or- 
dinary way  they  can  go  so  rapidly  over  large  tracts 
of  land. 

2.  From  Khiva  to  Meshed. 
The  routes  are  two :  the  one  by  Hezaresp  and 
Deregoz  southward  through  the  desert  (the  traveler 
can  perform  this  journey  on  horseback  in  twelve 
days) ;  the  other  way  passes  by  Merv,  and  has  the 
following  principal  stations  or  wells : 

1.  Dari.*  5.  Shur  ken. 

2.  Sagri.  6.  Akyap. 


3.  Nemekabad. 

4.  Shakshak. 


7.  Merv. 


3.  From  Khiva  to  Bokhara  (a  high  road). 


From 

To 

Far8Z. 
ParasanpTS. 

Khiva 
Khanka    . 
Shnrakhaii 
Ak  Karaish 
Toyeboynn 
Tiinuklu  . 
Utch  ndjak 
Karakol   . 

Khanka    . 
Shnrakhan 
Ak  Kamish 
Toveboyun 
Tiiniiklti  . 
Utch  ndjak 
Karakol   . 
Bokhara  . 

6 
5 
6 
8 
6 
10 
10 
9 

GO 

4.  From  Khiva  to  Khokand. 
There  is  a  route  through  the  desert  witliout  touch- 
ing Bokhara.  At  Shurakhan  one  leaves  the  Khanat 
of  Khiva,  and  reaches  Khodjend  ordinarily  in  from 
ten  to  twelve  days  inclusive.  The  journey  may,  how- 
ever, be  shortened  by  turning  off  to  Djizzak.  This 
*  Dari  is  reached  ou  the  first  day  from  Khiva. 


•Chap.  XXL         ROUTES  IN  THE  THREE  KHANATS. 


463 


was  the  route  taken  by  Conolly  in  company  of  a 
Khokandi  prince,  whom  he  had  met  in  Khiva. 

5.  From  Khiva  to  Kungrat  and  the  Shore  of  the 
Aral  Sea. 


From 

To 

Tash  or  FaiTZ. 

Khiva 

Yenghi  Urgeudj 

4 

Yenghi  Urgendj 

Gorlen 

6 

Gorlen 

Yenghi  Yap 

3 

Yenghi  Yap 

Khitai 

3 

Khitai 

Manghit  . 

4 

Manghit  . 

Kiptchak 

1 

Kiptchak 

Kamli 

2 

Karali 

Kliodja  Hi 

22  (desert) 

Khodja  Hi 

Kungrat  . 

4 

Kungrat  . 

Hekini  Ata 

4 

Hekim  Ata 

Tchortangol 

5 

Tchortangol 

Bozatav   . 

10 

Bozatav   . 

Shore  of  the  Sea 

5 

Makinoj  to";ether  73 


way  is  not  in 
twelve  stations. 


bad 


tash,  a  distance  which,' when  the 
condition,  may  be   traveled  in 


6.  From  Khiva  to  Kungrat^  hy  Kohne. 


From 

To 

Tash  or  Farsz. 

Khiva      . 

Gazavat   . 

3 

Gazavat   . 

Tash-haus 

7 

Tash-liaus 

KoktchesT 

2 

Koktcheg 

Kizil  Takir       . 

7 

Kizil  Takir 

Porsu 

6 

Porsu 

Kohne  Urgendj 

9 

Kohne  Urgendj 

Khodja  Hi 

6 

And  thence  to  Kungrat,  as  already  mentioned,  there 
are  four  tash,  making:  too-ether  44  tash,  a  nearer  wav, 
consequently,  than  the  one  b}'  Gorlen,  but  less  eligi- 
ble and  less  frequented.  First,  it  is  not  safe ;  and, 
secondly,  it  is  wearisome,  on  account  of  the  desert 
and  the  route  itself. 


464 


TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA. 


Chap.  XXI.  f 


7.  Fro7n  Khiva  to  Fitnek. 


From 

To 

Tash  or  Farsz. 

Khiva       . 
Sheikh  Mukhtar 
Bagat 
Ishantchepe 
Hezaresp . 

Sheikh  Mukhtar 
Bagat 
Ishantchepe 
Hezaresp . 
Fitnek      . 

3 
3 
2 
2 
6 

16 

Adding  to  this  number  the  73  already  given  in 
the  sum  of  the  distances  in  route  marked  (5),  we  see 
that  the  greatest  distance  traversed  by  the  Oxus  in 
the  khanat  is  not  more  than  89  tash  or  farszakhs. 


B. 

Routes  in  the  Khanat  of  Bokhara  and  the 
ADJACENT  Country. 

1.  From  Bokhara  to  Herat. 


From 

To 

Tash  or  Farsz. 

Bokhara  . 

Khoshrobat 

3 

Klioshrobat 

Tekender 

5 

Tekencler 

Tchertchi 

5 

Tchertchi 

Karaliindi 

5 

Karahindi 

Kerki       . 

1 

Kerki 

Zeid  (Well) 

8 

Zeid 

Andkhuy 

10 

Andkhuy 

Batkak     . 

5 

Batkak     . 

Maymene 

8 

Maymene 

Kaisar 

4 

Kaisar 

Narin 

6 

Narin 

Chikektu 

6 

Chikektu. 

Kale  Veil 

6 

Kale  Veil 

Mnrixab    . 

4 

Miirgab    . 

Derbend  . 

3 

Derbend  . 

Kale  No  . 

8 

Kale  No  . 

Sertcheshme 

9 

Sertcheshrae 

Herat 

6 

108 

This  distance  can  be  traveled  on  horseback  in  from 
20  to  25  days. 


CiiAi-.  XXI. 


ROUTES  IN  THE  THREE  KHANATS. 


465 


2.  From  Bokhara  to  Merv. 
The  traveler  must  here  first  go  to  Tchardjuy,  from 
which  city  there  are  three  different  routes : 

(a)  By  Kafatak.      There  is  one  well,  and  its  dis- 
tance is  45  farszakhs. 

(b)  By  Utchhadji.     Two  wells,  and  distance  40 
farszakhs. 

(c)  By  Yolkuyu.     This  is  the  route  most  to  thu 
east;   tlie  distrnce  is  50  farszakhs. 

3.  From  Bohha^xt  to  Samarcand  {usual  road). 


From 

To 

Karsz. 
Parafantrs. 

Bokliara  , 

]\[ezar 

Kermine  R. 

Mir. 

Kette  Kurgan  . 

Daul 

Mezar 

Kermine  R. 

Mir  .... 

Kette  Kurgan . 

Daul 

Samarcand 

5 
G 
6 
5 
6 
4 

32           j 

This  journey  is  performed  by  two-wheeled  loaded 
carts  in  six  days.  Mounted  on  a  good  horse,  one 
may  accomplish  it  in  three:  the  couriers  take  but 
two  days,  but  they  travel  night  and  day. 


4.  From  Samarcand  to  Kerki. 


From 

To 

Far^z. 

Samarcand 
Robati  Haus 
Xayman  . 
Sliurkuduk 
Karshi 
Feizabad  . 
Sengsulak 

Robati  Haus 
Nayman  . 
Shurkuduk 
Karshi 
Feizabad . 
Sengsulak 
Kerki       . 

3 

6 

4   • 

5 

2 

6 

6 

32 

Go 


4:66 


TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA. 


Chap.  XXI. 


5.  From  Samarcand  to  Khohand  hy  KJwdjend. 

From 

To 

Farsz.          1 

Samarcand 

Yengbi  Kurgan 

3 

Yengbi  Kurgan 

Djizzag    . 

4 

Djizzag    . 

Zamin 

5 

Zarain 

Djam 

4 

Djam 

Savat 

4 

Savat 

Oratepe    . 

2 

Oratepe   . 

Nau 

4 

Nau 

Kbodjend 

4 

Khodjend 

Karaktcbikum 

4 

Karaktcbikum 

Mebreni    . 

2 

Mebrera   . 

Besliarik  . 

5 

Besbarik  . 

Kbokand . 

5 

46 

This  journey  takes  eight  days  in  a  cart  (two-wheel- 
ed), and  may  be  much  shortened  by  going  straight 
from  Oratepe  to  Mehrem,  which  requires  only  eight 
hours,  so  that  there  is  a  gain  of  six  tash. 

6.  From  Samarcand  to  Tashkend  and  the 
Russian  Frontiers. 


From 

To 

Tash. 

Samarcand 
Yengbi  Kurgau 
Djizzag    . 
Djinas 
Zengbi  Ata 

Yenglii  Kurgau 
Djizzag     . 
Djinas 
Zengbi  Ata 
Tasbkend 

3 

4 

16 

4 

6 

33 

Five  days^  journey  farther  on  from  here  is,  as  I 
learned  from  the  accounts  of  many  different  persons, 
the  first  Russian  fort  and  post  of  the  Cossacks. 


Chap.  XXI. 


ROUTES  IN  THE  THREE  KHANATS. 


46< 


c. 

Routes  in  the  Khaxat  of  Khokand. 
1.  From  Khokand  to  Oosh  {a  straight  road). 


'                           From 

To 

Ta?h. 

Khokand . 
Karaultepe 
Mergolan 
Sherikhan 
Endigan  . 

Karaultepe 
Mergolan 
Sherikhau 
Endigau  . 
Oosh 

5 

3 
4 
3 
4 

]9 

The  journey  can  be  performed  in  two-wheeled  carts 
in  four  days. 

2.  From  KhoTcand  to  Oosh  (hi/  Namengan). 


From 

To 

Ta.<h. 

Khokand 
Bibi  Uveida     . 
Sehri   Menzil    . 
Kirghis  kurgan 
Namengan 
Usch  kurgan    . 
Gomtishtepe     . 

Bibi  Uveida     . 
Sehri  Menzil     . 
Kirghis  kurgan 
Namengan 
Usch  kurgan    . 
Gomtishtepe     . 
Oosh 

3 
2 
4 
4 
3 
5 
4 

25 

Besides  these  two  principal  roads,  there  is  a  moun- 
tainous route  from  Tashkend  to  Namengan,  offering, 
however,  many  perilous  places,  which  entail  the  ne- 
cessity of  much  laborious  exertion.  Although  the 
distance  is  only  45  miles,  one  requires  ten  (iays  to 
traverse  it.  It  passes  by  the  following  places :  Toy 
Tepe,  Karakhitai  Tilav,  Koshrobat,  Mollamir,  Baba- 
tarkhan,  Shehidan  (where  the  Kussians  were  defeated 
by  Mehemmed  Ali  Khan),  Kamishkurgan,  Pungan, 
Haremseray,  Uygur,  Pop,  Seng,  Djust,  Torekurgan, 
Namensran. 


4:68 


TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA. 


Chap.  XXI. 


D. 

Routes  in  Chinese  Tartart. 

The  distance  from  Kashgar  to  Yarkend  is  reck- 
oned 36  miles  (tash),  journeyed  over  by  caravans  and 
carts  in  seven  days.  On  the  third  day  from  Kashgar 
the  traveler  reaches  a  place  called  Yenghi  Hissar, 
which  is  occupied  by  a  strong  garrison  of  soldiers. 

From  Kashgar  to  Aksu  the  distance  is  70  miles ; 
a  caravan  takes  to  perform  it  twelve  days. 

From  Aksu  to  Ushturban^  lyiiig  to  the  south,  the 
traveler  requires  two  days. 

Proceeding  still  farther  to  the  east,  we  reach  Ko- 
mul  in  twenty-eight  days,  as  follows : 


From 

To 

Days'  Journey. 

Aksu 
Bay. 
Saram 

Bay 

Saram 
Kutcha     . 

3 

1 
2 

Kutcha 

Shiar 

2 

Shiai- 

Bogiir      . 

4 

Bogiir 
Kurli 

Kurli 

Kohne  Turfan 

3 

8 

Kohne  Turfau 

Komul 

3 

26 

Adding  twelve  days  for  the  journey  from  Kashgar 
to  Aksu,  this  makes,  for  the  whole  distance  from  the 
latter  city,  forty  days. 


Chap.  XXII.  AGRICULTURE.  4g9 


*       CHAPTER  XXII. 

GENERAL    VIEW    OF    AGRICULTURE,    MANUFACTURES,   AND 

TRADE. 

AORICCLTURE. — DIFFERENT    KINDS    OF    HORSES. SHEEP. CAMELS. ASSES. — 

MANUFACTURES. — PRINCIPAL    SEATS    OF    TRADE.— COMMEKCIAL   ASCENDENCV 
OF   RUSSIA   IN   CENTRAL    ASIA. 

(a.)  Agriculture. 
Taken  altogether,  it  is  incredible  how  fertile  all  the 
cultivable  land  is  in  these  three  khanats,  which  rise 
like  oases  out  of  the  monstrous  deserts  of  Central 
Asia.  In  spite  of  the  primitive  system  of  culture 
adopted,  fruit  and  corn  are  luxuriantly  abundant — 
one  might  even  say,  in  many  places,  superabundant. 
The  excellence  of  the  fruit  in  Khiva  has  been  already 
mentioned;  and  although  Bokhara  and  Khokand  can 
not  be  placed,  in  this  respect,  in  the  same  rank  with 
Khiva,  the  following  produce  of  those  khanats  de- 
serve, nevertheless,  mention  :  e.  (/.,  the  grapes,  of  ex- 
traordinary excellence  (of  which  there  are  ten  kinds), 
the  "magnificent  pomegranates,"  and  particularly 
the  apricots,  which  are  exported  in  immense  quanti- 
ties to  Persia,  Russia,  and  Afghanistan.  Corn  is 
met  with  every  where  in  the  three  khanats,  and  is 
of  five  kinds:  wheat, barley,  djugheri  (Holcus  saccha- 
ixitus\  millet  (tarik),  and  rice.  The  best  wheat  and 
djugheri  are  said  to  be  found  in  Bokhara  and  Khiva, 
a  genial  soil ;  whereas  Khokand  is  in  high  repute 


470  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XXII. 

for  millet.  Barley  is  nowhere  of  very  good  quality, 
and  is  made  use  of,  either  alone  or  mixed  with 
djugheri,  as  fodder  for  horses. 

In  cattle-breeding  the  inhabitants  of  Turkestan 
concentrate  their  attention  on  three  animals  alone, 
namely,  the  horse,  the  sheep,  and  the  camel. 

The  horse  is  regarded  by  the  Central  Asiatic  as 
his  alte7'  ego.  Different  races  are  met  with  here, 
possessing,  too,  different  qualities  and  excellences. 
Volumes  might  be  written  to  show  how  it  is  reared, 
and  what  are  its  varieties ;  but  this  not  being  my 
province,  I  will  confine  myself  to  a  few  observations. 
As  countless  as  the  stocks  and  branches  of  the  no- 
mads themselves,  so  countless  are  the  races  and  fam- 
ilies of  their  horses.  The  following  classification  de- 
serves to  be  noted : 

(1.)  The  Turkoman  horse;  and  here  a  main  dis- 
tinction exists  between  the  Tekke  and  the  Yomut 
breeds.  The  former,  of  which  the  favorite  races  are 
the  Korogli  and  the  Akhal,  are  distinguished  by 
extraordinary  height  (sixteen  to  seventeen  hands). 
They  are  slightly  built,  have  handsome  heads,  ma- 
jestic carriage,  wonderful  speed,  but  no  bottom.  The 
latter,  those  of  the  Yomuts,  are  smaller,  finely  form- 
ed, and  unite  speed  with  unparalleled  endurance  and 
strength.*  In  general,  the  Turkoman  horse  is  dis- 
tinguished by  a  slender  barrel,  thin  tail,  handsome 
head  and  neck  (it  is  a  pity  that  the  mane  is  cut  off), 
and  a  particularly  fine  and  glossy  coat ;   the  latter 

*  I  have  seen  many  horses  of  this  description  which  had  car- 
ried each  his  Turkoman  rider,  with  a  slave  behind  him  in  the 
saddle,  at  a  constant  rapid  gallop  for  thirty  hom's. 


Chap.  XXII.      HORSES.— SHEEP.— CAMELS.— ASSES.  471 

quality  is  owing  to  its  being  kept  covered,  summer 
and  winter,  with  several  housings  of  felt.  With  re- 
spect to  the  value,  a  good  Turkoman  horse  may  be 
had  at  a  price  varying  from  one  hundred  to  three 
hundred  ducats,  but  never  under  thirty  ducats. 

(2.)  The  Ozbeg  horse  resembles  the  Yomut,  but  its 
form  is  more  compact,  and  denotes  more  power ;  its 
neck  short  and  thick,  rather  suited,  like  our  hacks, 
for  journeys  than  serviceable  in  war  or  alamans. 

(3.)  The  Kasak  horse,  in  a  half  wild  state,  small, 
with  long  hair,  thick  head,  and  heavy  feet.  He  is 
seldom  fed  by  hand,  but  is  accustomed  to  seek  him- 
self his  subsistence,  summer  and  winter,  in  the  pas- 
tures. 

(4.)  The  Khokandi  sumpter  or  cart-horse  is  a  cross 
between  the  Ozbeg  and  the  Kasak  breeds,  and  is  re- 
markable for  its  great  strength.  Of  these  four  races, 
the  genuine  Turkoman  horses  have  only  been  exportr. 
ed  to  Persia,  and  the  Ozbeg  horses  to  Afghanistan 
and  India. 

The  sheep  is  every  where  of  the  race  with  fat  tails ; 
the  finest  are  met  with  in  Bokhara.  Its  flesh  is  the 
best  I  have  tasted  in  the  East. 

There  are  three  kinds  of  camels,  the  one-humped 
and  the  two-humped,  the  latter  called  by  us  the  Bac- 
trian,  and  only  met  with  among  the  Kirghis,  and  the 
ner,  of  which  we  have  already  spoken  when  treating 
of  Andkhuy. 

Finally,  I  must  not  omit  to  mention  the  asses. 
The  finest  are  those  of  Bokhara  and  Khiva.  Of 
these  the  hadjis  export  yearly  many  to  Persia,  Bag- 
dad, Damascus,  and  Egypt. 


472  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Cuap.  XXII, 

(b.)  Manufactures. 

Two  hundred  years  ago,  when  Turkey  was  less  ac- 
cessible to  our  European  commerce  than  is  the  case 
at  the  present  day,  the  native  manufactures  of  En- 
giirii  (Angora),  Broussa,  Damascus,  and  Aleppo  were 
certainly  more  active.  Central  Asia  is  even  now  far 
more  remote  from  us  than  was  Turkey  in  the  times 
alluded  to ;  our  trade  there  is  still  very  weakly  rep- 
resented ;  the  consequence  is,  that  the  greater  part 
of  the  articles  requisite  for  clothing  or  household 
purposes  are  the  produce  of  native  industry,  of  which 
we  will  give  in  this  place  a  short  account. 

The  principal  seats  of  Central  Asiatic  manufac- 
tures are  Bokhara,  Karshi,  Yenghi  tJrgendj,  Kho- 
kand,  and  Namengan.  Out  of  these  cities  come  the 
different  stuffs,  whether  of  cotton,  silk,  or  linen,  as 
well  as  the  articles  manufactured  from  leather,  which 
supply  the  native  demand.  The  principal  and  most 
widely  diffused  material  is  the  so-called  aladja,  a  stuff 
employed  for  the  dresses  of  man  and  woman.  In 
Khiva  it  is  woven  of  cotton  and  raw  silk,  in  Bokha- 
ra and  Khokand  of  cotton  alone.  As  there  are  no 
distinct  tailors'  shops,  the  manufacturer  busies  him- 
self also  with  the  scissors  and  the  needle,  so  that  a 
great  part  of  the  produce  consists  in  ready-made 
clothes.  When  we  were  in  Bokhara,  the  high  prices 
of  clothing  were  a  general  complaint.  The  follow- 
ing were  those  then  current : 


Chap.  XXII.  MANUFACTURES.  473 


Dresses. 

1st  Class.          1          lid  Class. 

3d  CliiKt^. 

Khivan  .... 
JJokhariot  .     .     . 
Khokandi  .     .     . 

30  tenghe. 
20       " 
12       " 

20  tenghe. 
12 

8        " 

8  tenghe. 

8       '' 
5        " 

Besides  the  aladja,  they  fabricate  stiiiFs  of  silk,  wool- 
en shawls  for  turbans,  linen,  for  the  most  part  very 
coarse  and  bad,  and  from  the  latter  a  sort  of  calico, 
with  dark  red  figures,  used,  as  coverlets  for  bedding 
throughout  Turkestan  and  Afghanistan. 

In  the  manufacture  of  leather  they  are  famous ; 
they  excel  us  in  the  preparation  of  shagreen  ("sagri"' 
in  the  Tartar  language),  Mdiich,  as  is  well  known,  is 
green,  with  little  elevations  like  bladders.  With  the 
exception  of  Russia  leather — which  they  import  from 
that  country,  and  employ  in  fashioning  their  water- 
skins — their  coverings  for  the  feet,  and  their  harness 
and  accoutrements  for  horses,  are  manufactured  of 
native  leather.  Bokhara  and  Khokand  produce  these 
articles  of  the  best  quality.  Khiva  has  only  one  kind 
of  thick  yellow  leather,  employed  both  for  soles  and 
upper  leather.  Of  fine  leather  they  prepare  the  meskh 
(under-shoes  like  stockings) ;  and  of  the  coarser  kinds, 
the  koush,  or  upper  galoshes. 

Paper  manufactured  in  Bokhara  and  Samarcand 
enjoys  a  high  repute  throughout  Turkestan  and  the 
adjoining  countries.  It  is  made  of  raw  silk,  is  very 
smooth  and  thin,  and  well  adapted  for  the  Arabic 
Avriting.  Articles  of  iron  and  steel,  as  the  raw  ma- 
terial is  wanting,  are  only  weakly  represented.  The 
rifled  guns  from  Hezaresp,  the  swords  and  knives 
from  Hissar,  Karshi,  and  Dju.'^t,  are  in  great  renown. 

An  important  manufacture  of  Central  Asia,  which 


474  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XXII. 

reaches  us  in  Europe  by  way  of  Persia  and  Constan- 
tinople, is  that  of  carpets,  which  is,  however,  the  ex- 
clusive product  of  the  industry  and  skill  of  the  Turk- 
oman women.  Besides  the  beautifully  pure  coloring 
and  solidity  of  the  texture,  what  most  surprises  us  is 
how  these  simple  nomad  women  preserve  so  well  the 
symmetry  of  the  outline  of  figures,  and  even  betray 
often  a  better  taste  than  many  manufacturers  in  Eu- 
rope. One  carpet  gives  work  always  for  a  number 
of  girls  and  young  women.  An  old  woman  j^laces 
herself  at  their  head  as  directress.  She  first  traces, 
with  points,  the  pattern  of  the  figures  in  the  sand. 
Glancing  at  this,  she  gives  out  the  number  of  the  dif- 
ferent threads  required  to  produce  the  desired  figures. 
In  the  next  place,  the  workers  in  felt  demand  notice, 
but  the  Kirghis  women  here  distinguish  themselves 
most. 

(c.)  Trade. 
As  it  was  before  mentioned,  in  the  chapter  respect- 
ing the  mode  of  communication,  that  Kussia  main- 
tains the  most  extensive  and  regular  relations  Avith 
Central  Asia,  so  also  must  it  be  stated  that  it  is  Rus- 
sian trade  which  deserves  to  be  styled  the  most  an- 
cient and  the  most  considerable.  It  is  a  trade  ever 
on  the  increase,  and,  at  least  in  this  field,  remains 
without  a  rival.  The  extraordinary  progress  which 
it  has  made  in  these  regions  is  best  seen  fi:'oni  the 
following  most  authentic  data.  M.  de  Khanikoff* 
states,  in  his  work  published  in  1843,  that  every  year 

*  See  the  English  translation  of  his  work  by  the  Baron  Bode, 
1850.     Madden. 


Chap.  XXII. 


IMPORTS  AND  EXPORTS. 


a  number  of  from  five  to  six  thousand  camels  is  em- 
ployed in  the  transport  trade ;  that  goods  are  import- 
ed into  Russia  from  Central  Asia  to  the  value  of 
from  three  to  four  millions  of  rubles ;  and  that  the 
export  trade,  which  in  1828  amounted  to  .£23,620, 
had  risen,  in  1840,  to  £65,675  16s.  This  estimate 
applies  to  the  years  from  1828  to  1845.  Her  maj- 
esty's secretary  of  embassy  at  St.  Petersburg,  Mr.  T. 
Saville  Lumley,  in  his  Report  upon  the  Russian 
trade  with  Central  Asia,  drawn  up  with  great  indus- 
try and  ability,  informs  us  that,  in  the  period  from 
1840  to  1850,  the  export  trade  rose  to  £1,014,237, 
and  the  import  trade  to  £1,345,741.'''  Even  with- 
out these  data,  a  glance  alone  at  the  bazars  of  Bok- 
hara, Khiva,  and  Karshi  would  suffice  to  convince 
us  of  the  importance  of  this  branch  of  Russian  trade; 
and  it  is  by  no  means  any  exaggeration  to  assert  that 

*  The  Report  above  alluded  to  furnishes  itself  all  the  necessary 
details:  we  have  appended  them  as  given  by  Mr.  Lumley  himself. 

Table  of  the  Trade  between  Hussia  and  the  Countries  of  Central 

Asia  for  tJie  Decennial  Period  from  1840  to  1850. 

Exported. 


Total. 


Specie,  gold  and  silver  . 

Copper 

Iron,  hardware,  various 

metals 

Cotton,  manufactures  in 
Wool,  ditto     .     .     .     . 

Silk,  ditto 

Leather 

Wood  en- ware 
Dye-stufts  and  colors    . 
Miscellaneous  goods 
Total 


£ 

213,969 

45,776 

82,127 
156,707 
50,467 
10,550 
81,543 
8,595 
48,635 
85,416 


£ 
15,210 
1,856 

9,331 
58,915 
25,869 

4,799 

37,921 

460 

17,904 

27,567 


£ 

375 
2,043 

10,979 

7,559 

1,976 

71 

4,069 

826 

693 

2,031 


£ 
229,554 
49,675 

102,437 

223,181 
78,312 
15,420 

123,533 

9,881 

67,232 

115.012 


783,785 


199,830 


30,622 


1,014,237 


TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA. 


Chap.  XXII. 


there  is  no  house,  and  even  no  tent,  in  all  Central 
Asia,  where  there  is  not  some  article  of  Russian  man- 
ufacture. The  most  important  trade  is  carried  on  in 
cast  iron,  for  the  most  part  consisting  of  kettles  and 
Avater-cans,  and  imported  from  South  Siberia,  but  par- 
ticularly from  the  manufactories  in  the  Ural  Mount- 
ains. In  the  trade  with  Bokhara,  Tashkend,  and 
Khiva  alone,  more  than  three  thousand  camels  are 
emploj'ed  in  the  transport  of  this  one  article.  After 
cast  iron  come  raw  iron  and  brass,  Russian  cotton 
goods,  cambric,  muslins,  tea-kettles,  army  and  miscel- 
laneous cutlery.  Cloth,  from  its  high  price,  meets 
with  few  purchasers,  and  is  seldom  found.  The  be- 
fore-named articles  are  transported  from  Bokhara 
and  Karshi  not  only  to  the  remaining  parts  of  Tur- 
kestan, but  to  Maymene  and  Herat,  and  even  as  far  as 
Kandahar  and  Kabul.     The  latter  two  cities  are,  in- 


Imported. 


Bokhara. 

Khirji. 

Kokan. 

Total.          1 

Cotton,  raw  and  twist  . 
"     manufactures  in  . 

Silk,  raw,  and  manufac- 
tures in 

"Wool,  manufactures  in 

Madder 

Furs,  lambskins  .     .     . 

Precious  stones  and 
pearls 

Fruit,  dried     .... 

Shawls,  Cashmere    .     . 

Miscellaneous  goods  . 
Total 

£ 

333,177 
498,622 

17,443 

428 

7,351 

151,773 

17,856 
27,784 
24,242 
19,664 

£ 
76,255 
88,960 

3,088 

1,322 

26,201 

6,297 

703 
2,147 

4,452 

£ 

2,718 
14,180 

160 

52 

7 

1,995 

16,883 
3,941 

£ 
412,150 
601,802 

20,691 

1,802 

33,559 

160,065 

18,559 
44,814 
24,242 
28,057 

1,096,380 

209,425 

39,936 

1,345,741 

For  farther  details,  see 
of  Embassy  and  Legation 
1862,  Xo.  v.,  p.  313. 


"Reports  by  Her  Majesty's  Secretaries 
on  the  Manufactures,  Commerce,  etc.," 


Chap.  XXII.  TRADE.  477 

deed,  nearer  to  Peshawur  and  Karatchi,  but  give,  nev- 
ertheless, the  preference  to  the  Kussian  merchandise, 
although  far  inferior  to  that  of  Eiisjland. 

The  circumstance  may  seem  surprising  to  the  read- 
er, and  yet  the  reasons  are  simple.  Orenburg  is  just 
as  distant  from  Bokhara  as  Karatchi,  which,  being  in 
the  Indian  territory  of  Great  Britain,  might  form  the 
outpost  of  English  commerce.  The  route  thence  by 
Herat  to  Central  Asia  would  be  far  more  practicable 
and  more  convenient  than  that  leadino;  throujxh  the 
desert  to  Ilussia.  That  the  English  trade  is  here 
supplanted  by  the  Russian  is,  in  my  humble  opinion, 
to  be  ascribed  to  the  following  causes  :  (1.)  The  com- 
mercial relations  of  Bussia  with  Tartary  are  now  sev- 
eral centuries  old,  and  in  comparison  with  it  that  of 
England  deserves  to  be  denominated  new,  and  it  is  no- 
torious how  tenaciously  Orientals  cling  to  old  usages 
and  customs.  (2.)  The  Bussians,  occujjying  adjoin- 
ing frontiers,  in  matters  affecting  the  taste  and  requi- 
sitions of  the  Central  Asiatics  are  more  experienced 
than  the  English  manufacturers  of  Birmingham,  Man- 
chester, and  Glasgow,  etc.,  an  evil  only  to  be  remedied 
by  European  travelers  being  able  to  move  about  more 
freely  in  these  regions  than  is  the  case  at  the  present 
day,  Avhen  journeys  not  only  in  Bokhara,  but  even  in 
Afghanistan,  are  attended  by  so  much  risk  and  peril. 
(3.)  The  Herat  route,  in  spite  of  its  jDossessing  every 
element  of  convenience,  has  very  much  to  deter  for- 
eign merchants,  in  consequence  of  the  oi'ganized  sys- 
tem of  what  may  be  styled  bandit  governments,  as  may 
be  seen  from  what  was  before  said  upon  the  subject.* 
*  See  Chapter  XIY. 


478  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XXII. 

Besides  these  commercial  relations  with  Russia, 
Turkestan  maintains  also  others,  almost  uninterrupt- 
edly, by  the  way  of  Herat  with  Persia,  whither  it 
sends  lambs'  wool,  dried  fruit,  materials  for  red  col- 
oring, and  certain  native  stufl's,  receiving  in  exchange 
a  great  quantity  of  opium*  from  Meshed,  some  En- 
glish wares  through  the  house  of  Halli  &  Company, 
sugar  and  cutlery.  There  is  a  route  from  Meshed  to 
Bokhara  which  can  be  performed  in  ten  days,  but  the 
caravans  are  forced  to  take  the  circuitous  way  by  He- 
rat, which  requires  thrice  as  much  time-  From  Ka- 
bul is  exported  to  Bokhara  a  sort  of  cotton  shaAvl, 
with  blue  and  white  stripes,  called  by  the  Tartars 
pota,  and  by  the  Afghans  lunghi.  It  is  used  univer- 
sally for  summer  turbans,  and  looks  like  an  English 
manufacture,  which  may  perhaps  be  imported  by  way 
of  Peshawur ;  it  is  the  only  article  having  a  good 
sale,  because  in  accordance  with  the  national  taste. 
The  Kabuli  besides  bring  indigo  and  different  kinds 
of  spices,  receiving  in  return  Russian  calicoes,  tea, 
and  paper. 

With  China  there  is  only  an  insignificant  trade  in 
tea  and  porcelain,  but  these  articles  are  quite  differ- 

*  Opium,  called  here  teryak,  is  prepared  iu  the  southeastern 
part  of  Persia  as  follows :  The  head  of  the  poppy  has  incisions 
made  iu  it  leugtlnvays  on  three  of  its  sides  at  a  fixed  time  iu  the 
evening,  and  when  only  half  ripe.  The  next  morning  after  it  has 
been  so  cut  a  dewlike  substance  shows  itself  at  the  place ;  this 
must  be  removed  before  sunrise,  and,  after  having  been  boiled, 
the  resulting  product  is  the  teryak.  It  is  singular  that  from 
the  three  places  where  the  poppy  has  been  cut  issue  substances 
of  different  quality,  aud  of  these  that  in  the  middle  is  most  es- 
teemed. 


CiiAi'.  XXII.  TRADE.— THE  HADJIS.  479 

ent  from  those  seen  in  Europe.  The  Chinese  seldom 
set  foot  over  the  frontier,  the  communication  here 
being  ahnost  entirely  kej)t  up  by  Kalmuks  and  Mus- 
sulmans. 

Lastly,  let  me  not  omit  to  allude  to  the  trade  car- 
ried on  in  Persia,  India,  Arabia,  and  Turkey  by  the 
hadjis.  The  reader  may  think  that  I  am  jesting; 
but  still  my  experience  justifies  me  in  saying  that 
this  also  merits  the  name  of  commercial  transaction. 
The  fifty  or  sixty  hadjis  who  came  with  me  from 
Central  Asia  to  Herat  transported  with  them  about 
forty  dozens  of  silk  handkerchiefs  from  Bokhara, 
about  two  thousand  knives,  thirty  pieces  of  silk  stuff 
from  Namengan,  a  large  quantity  of  Khokandi  dappi 
(caps  upon  which  the  turban  is  wound),  etc.  These 
were  the  hadjis  upon  one  route  only.  As  for  the 
imports,  account  must  also  be  held  of  the  hadjis,  for 
it  is  very  easy  to  understand  that  the  largest  part  of 
the  European  cutlery  that  finds  its  way  to  Central 
Asia  has  been  introduced  by  them. 


480  TEAVELS  IN  CENTKAL  ASIA.  Cuav.  XXIIL 


CHAPTER  XXIIL 

INTERNAL    AND    EXTERNAL    POLITICAL    RELATIONS    OF 
CENTRAL    ASIA. 

INTERNAL   RELATIONS    BETWEEN    BOKHARA,  KHIVA,  AND    KHOKAND.  —  EXTER- 
NAL  RELATIONS   WITH   TDRKEY,  PERSIA,   CHINA,  AND   RUSSIA. 

(a.)  Internal  Relations. 

From  what  I  have  said  in  the  previous  pages  upon 
the  subject  of  the  recent  history  of  Khiva  and  Kho- 
kand,  one  may  form  a  tolerably  good  idea  of  the 
terms  upon  which  the  diiFerent  khanats  live  with 
each  other.  I  will,  nevertheless,  here  collect  a  few 
facts  to  render  it  easier  to  appreciate  the  whole  situ- 
ation. 

Let  us  begin  with  Bokhara.  This  khanat,  which, 
even  previously  to  the  introduction  of  Islamism, 
played  a  capital  part,  has,  notwithstanding  all  the 
revolutions  that  have  since  occurred,  always  pre- 
served its  superiority,  and  it  is  regarded  at  the  pres- 
ent day  as  the  cradle  of  the  civilization  of  Central 
Asia.  Khokand  and  Khiva,  as  well  as  the  other 
small  khanats  to  the  south,  and  even  Afghanistan 
itself,  have  never  ceased  to  recognize  its  spiritual  su- 
premacy. They  praise  and  extol  the  mollahs,  as  well 
as  the  Islamite  learning  of  the  "noble  Bokhara;" 
but  their  love  of  it  extends  only  thus  far,  for  all  at- 


Chap.  XXIII.  INTERNAL  RELATIONS.  43I 

tempts  made  by  the  emirs  of  Bokhara  to  make  use 
of  their  political  influence  to  increase  their  political 
jDOwer  have  failed  of  success,  not  only  in  the  khanats, 
but  even  in  the  respective  cities.  Near-sighted  poli- 
ticians might  infer,  from  the  wars  carried  on  by  the 
Emir  Nasrullah  with  Khiva  and  Khokand,  that  Bok- 
kara,  from  apprehension  of  a  Russian  invasion,  is  dis- 
posed to  organize  an  alliance  by  means  gentle  or  foul. 
But  this  is  not  the  case.  Bokhara  had  never  any 
such  plans.  The  campaigns  of  the  emir  are  but 
predatory  expeditions;  and  I  am  firmly  convinced 
that,  should  Russia  proceed  actively  to  carry  out  her 
designs  on  Central  Asia,  the  three  khanats,  so  far 
from  giving  each  other  any  mutual  support  in  the 
moment  of  peril,  would,  by  their  dissensions,  furnish 
the  common  enemy  with  the  very  best  arms  against 
themselves.  Khiva  and  Khokand  are  then  to  be  re- 
garded as  the  constant  enemies  of  Bokhara:  still, 
Bokhara  does  not  look  for  any  serious  danger  in 
those  quarters,  and  the  only  rival  that  she  really 
fears  in  Central  Asia  is  one  that  is  day  by  day  be- 
cominsf  more  formidable  to  her — Afohanistan. 

That  this  fear  reached  its  highest  point  during  the 
victorious  march  of  Dost  Mohammed  Khan  toward 
the  Oxus  need  scarcely  be  mentioned.  Emir  Nas- 
rullah was  well  aware  that  he  should  never  be  for- 
given by  the  aged  Afghan  for  his  infamous  jest 
played  upon  him,  or  rather  his  son,  when  the  latter 
sought  his  hospitality  in  Bokhara ;'''  and  as  it  was 
affirmed  that  Dost  Mohammed  had  been  reconciled 
with  the  English,  and  had  become  even  an  English 
*  See  Ferrier's  "  History  of  the  Afghans,"  p.  336. 

Hh 


482  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.XXUI. 

mercenary,  the  apprehension  of  the  emir  was  still 
farther  increased  by  the  suspicion  that  he  was  but  a 
tool  in  the  hands  of  the  English  to  avenge  the  bloody 
deaths  of  Conolly  and  Stoddart.  Dark,  indeed,  must 
the  pictures  have  been  of  the  future  destiny  of  his 
khanat  that  the  Tartar  tyrant  carried  with  him  into 
his  grave.  Not  less  was  the  apprehension  entertain- 
ed by  his  son  and  successor,  the  reigning  emir,  on  his 
accession.  Mozaffar-ed-din  was  in  Khokand  when 
the  intelligence  reached  him  of  the  death  of  Dost 
Mohammed.  The  messenger  received  a  present  of 
1000  tenghe ;  the  very  same  day  a  festival  was  im- 
provised, and  in  the  evening  the  emir,  to  complete 
the  number  of  his  legal  wives,  took  to  his  bed  his 
fourth  spouse,  the  youngest  daughter  of  Khudayar 
Khan.  The  great  dread  has,  indeed,  passed  away, 
but  a  feeling  of  "respect''  continues  still  to  exist; 
for  in  Bokhara  it  is  very  well  known  that  the  Af- 
ghans, as  fruit  of  the  alliance  with  England,  can 
now  dispose  of  some  thousands  of  well-drilled  regu- 
lar troops. 

Conscious  of  the  superiority  of  the  Afghans,  and 
its  own  inability  to  cope  with  them,  it  is  the  policy 
of  Bokhara  to  do  them  as  much  harm  as  possible  by 
their  intrigues.  As  the  Afghans  have  allied  them- 
selves with  England,  it  is  not  difficult  to  decry  them 
throughout  Turkestan  as  apostates  from  Islam,  and 
consequently  during  the  last  four  years  the  commer- 
cial intercourse  with  Kabul  has  much  diminished. 
As  before  mentioned,  the  Tekke  and  Salor  stand  con- 
stantly in  the  pay  of  Bokhara.  At  the  siege  of  He- 
rat  it  was  a  matter  of  great  surprise  to  the  aged  Dost 


CHAP.XXm.         KHIVA  AND  ITS  TRIBUTARIES.  433 

that,  in  spite  of  all  the  presents  which  he  made  to 
them,  the  Turkomans  continued  to  molest  him,  and 
to  carry  off  prisoners  even  from  his  own  army.  He 
had  quite  forgotten  his  real  enemies — the  gold  pieces 
of  Bokhara ;  for  the  sympathies  of  the  Turkomans 
are  ever  with  those  that  pay  best.  Thus  far  of  the 
internal  policy  of  Bokhara. 

Khiva  has  been  much  enfeebled  by  the  continual 
wars  it  has  had  to  maintain  with  its  own  tributaries 
— who  are  ever  ready  to  renew  the  contest — the  Yo- 
muts,  Tchaudors,  and  Kasaks.  The  superiority  of 
numbers  is  on  the  side  of  Bokhara  ;  and  if  the  emir 
has  hitherto  been  unable  to  conquer  Khiva,  the  sole 
cause  is  the  bravery  of  the  Ozbeg  jDopulation.  Al- 
lahkuli  was,  as  I  heard,  the  first  who  sent  an  embas- 
sador to  Bokhara  and  Khokand  (probably  it  was  at 
the  suggestion  of  Conolly),  in  order  to  organize  a  sys- 
tem of  mutual  aid  and  defensive  alliance  against  that 
power  of  Russia  Aviiich  was  ever  on  the  increase. 
Not  only  did  Bokhara  decline  to  enter  into  such  al- 
liance, but  it  even  evinced  a  disposition  to  enter  into 
relations  with  Bussia.  Khokand,  on  the  other  hand, 
as  well  as  Shehri  Sebz,  and  Hissar  (cities  which  were 
then  at  war  with  the  emir),  declared  their  readiness 
to  adhere  to  the  proposition  of  Khiva.  But  this 
imion  never  assumed  any  other  form  but  that  of  a 
wish,  never  was  carried  into  effect ;  and  how  difficult 
its  realization  would  be  is  best  shown  by  an  ancient 
Arab  proverb,  adopted  by  the  Central  Asiatics  as  de- 
scriptive of  their  own  national  character,  and  which 
is  to  the  following  effect:  "In  Boum  are  bless- 
ings, in   Damascus  beneficence,  in  Bagdad  science. 


484  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASLA..  Chap.  XXEU. 

but  in  Turkestan  naught  but  rancor  and  animosi- 

Khokand,  owing  to  the  continual  dissensions  be- 
tween the  Kiptchaks,  Kirghis,  and  Kasaks,  is  a  prey 
to  the  same  evil  as  Khiva,  "When  we  add  to  this 
the  unexampled  cowardice  of  its  Ozbeg  inhabitants, 
it  Avill  no  longer  appear  surprising  if,  in  spite  of  its 
having  the  greatest  population  and  the  most  exten- 
sive territory  of  the  three  khanats,  it  has,  neverthe- 
less, been  continually  conquered  by  Bokhara. 

(h.)  External  Relations. 

In  its  political  relations  with  foreign  countries, 
Central  Asia  comes  only  in  contact  with  Turkey, 
Persia,  China,  and  Russia. 

The  Sultan  of  Constantinople  is  regarded  as  cliief 
of  religion  and  khalif,  and  as  it  was  the  practice  in 
the  Middle  Ages  for  the  three  khanats  of  Turkestan 
to  receive,  as  badges  of  investiture  from  the  Khalif 
of  Bagdad,  a  sort  of  court  office,  this  old  system  of 
etiquette  has  not  been  abandoned  even  at  the  present 
day;  and  the  princes,  on  their  accession  to  the  throne, 
are  wont  still  to  solicit,  through  the  medium  of  an 
extraordinary  embassy  to  Stamboul,  these  honorary 
distinctions.  The  Khan  of  Khiva  assumes  his  rank 
as  cupbearer,  the  Emir  of  Bokhara  as  reis  (guardian 
of  religion),  and  the  Khan  of  Khokand  as  constable. 
These  courtly  functions  have  always  been  in  high  es- 
timation, and  I  have  been  informed  that  the  different 
functionaries  fulfill  formally  once  every  year  the  cor- 

*  "Elbereket  fi  Rum  el  rauruvet  fi  Sham  el  ilm  fi  Bngdad,  cl 
bos:z  ve  adavet  fi  Mavera  til-nehr." 


CuAP.  XXIII.  THE  THREE  KHANATS.  485 

responding  duties.  But  the  bond  that  unites  them 
with  Constantinople  goes  thus  far,  and  no  farther. 
The  sultans  can  not  exercise  any  political  influence 
upon  the  three  khanats.  The  inhabitants  of  Central 
Asia,  indeed,  are  in  the  habit  of  associating  with  the 
word  Roum  (as  Turkey  is  here  called)  all  the  power 
and  splendor  of  ancient  Rome,  with  which,  in  the 
popular  opinion,  it  is  identified;  but  the  princes  seem 
to  have  seen  through  this  illusion,  nor  would  they  be 
disposed  to  recognize  the  paramount  grandeur  of  the 
sultan  unless  the  Porte  associated  its  "firman  of  in- 
vestiture" or  its  "licenses  to  pray"  with  the  trans- 
mission of  some  hundreds  or  thousands  of  piastres. 
In  Khiva  and  Khokand  these  firmans  from  Constan- 
tinople continue  to  be  read  with  some  demonstration 
of  reverence  and  respect.  The  former  khanat  was 
represented  in  Constantinople  during  a  period  often 
years  by  ShtikruUah  Bay;  the  latter,  during  the  reign 
of  Mollah  Khan,  had  only  four  years  ago  an  embas- 
sador, Mirza  Djan,  at  the  court  of  the  sultan.  These 
envoys  were,  in  accordance  Avith  ancient  usages,  some- 
times maintained  for  long  periods  of  years  at  the  cost 
of  the  state,  a  charge  not  altogether  convenient  as  far 
as  its  budget  for  foreign  affairs  was  concerned,  but 
nevertheless  altogether  essential  and  necessary  to  the 
pretension  to  a  spiritual  superiority  in  Asia. 

The  Ottoman  Empire  could  only  have  gained  ef- 
fectual political  influence  in  these  remote  regions  of 
the  East  Avhen  it  was  roused  from  its  slumbering 
Oriental  existence  before  the  time  of  Peter  the  Great. 
In  its  character  of  Turkish  dynasty,  the  house  of  Os- 
man  might,  out  of  the  diflbrent  kindred  elements  witli 


486  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XXIII. 

which  it  is  connected  by  the  bond  of  common  lan- 
guage, religion,  and  history,  have  founded  an  empire 
extendino;  from  the  shore  of  the  Adriatic  far  into 
China,  an  empire  mightier  than  that  which  the  great 
Romanoff  was  obliged  to  employ  not  only  force,  but 
cunning,  to  put  together,  out  of  the  most  discordant 
and  heterogeneous  materials.  Anatolians,  Azerbay- 
djanes,  Turkomans,  Ozbegs,  Kirghis,  and  Tartars  are 
the  respective  members  out  of  which  a  mighty  Turkish 
Colossus  might  have  arisen,  certainly  better  capable 
of  measuring  itself  with  its  greater  northern  compet- 
itor than  Turkey  such  as  we  see  it  in  the  present  day. 
With  Persia,  its  nearest  neighbor,  Khiva  and  Bok- 
hara interchange  embassadors  but  rarely.  The  fact 
that  Persia  avows  the  principles  of  the  Shiite  sect 
forms  in  itself  just  such  a  wall  of  separation  between 
these  two  fanatical  nations  as  Protestantism  created 
between  the  two  great  classes  of  Christians  in  Eu- 
rope three  centuries  ago.  To  this  feeling  of  religious 
animosity  let  us  add,  also,  the  traditional  enmity  be- 
tween the  Iranian  and  Turanian  races  that  has  be- 
come matter  of  history,  and  we  may  then  easily  form 
an  idea  of  the  gulf  that  separates  the  sympathies  of 
nations  that  nature  has  made  inhabitants  of  adjoin- 
ing countries.  Persia,  which,  according  to  the  natu- 
ral course  of  events,  should  form  the  channel  to  con- 
vey to  Turkestan  the  benefits  of  modern  civilization, 
is  far  from  producing  there  even  the  slightest  effect. 
Powerless  to  defend  even  her  own  frontiers  from  the 
Turkomans,  the  disgraceful  defeat  she  sustained,  as 
before  mentioned,  at  Merv,  in  an  expedition  directed, 
in  fact,  against  Bokhara,  has  utterly  destroyed  her 


Chap.  XXUI.  POLITICAL  RELATIONS.  487 

prestige.  Her  power  is  the  object  of  very  little  ap- 
prehension in  the  three  khanats,  for  the  Tartars  af- 
firm that  God  gave  the  Persians  head  (understand- 
ing) and  eyes,  but  no  heart  (courage). 

With  respect  to  China,  its  political  relations  with 
Central  Asia  are  so  rare  and  insignificant  that  they 
scarcely  merit  any  mention.  Once,  perhaps,  in  a 
centur3i  a  correspondence  takes  place.  The  emirs 
are  in  the  habit  of  sending  occasionally  envoys  to 
Kashgar,  but  the  Chinese,  on  their  side,  never  ven- 
ture so  far  into  Turkestan  as  Bokhara.  With  Kho- 
kand  negotiations  take  place  more  frequently,  but  it 
sends  only  functionaries  of  inferior  rank  to  the  Mus- 
sulman barbarians. 

With  Russia  political  relations  are  upon  a  very 
different  footing.  Having  been  for  centuries  in  pos- 
session of  the  countries  that  border  upon  the  deserts 
of  Turkestan  on  the  north,  an  extensive  commercial 
intercourse  has  rendered  Russia  more  observant  of 
what  is  going  on  in  the  three  khanats  than  their 
other  neighbors,  and  has  caused  a  series  of  efibrts  of 
which  the  only  possible  termination  seems  to  be  their 
complete  occupation.  The  very  obstacles  which  na- 
ture has  interposed  have  rendered,  indeed,  the  prog- 
ress of  Kussia  slow,  but  perhaps  her  progress  is  only 
on  that  account  the  more  certain.  The  three  khanats 
are  the  only  members  now  wanting  to  that  immense 
Tartar  kingdom  that  Ivan  Yasilyevitch  (1462-1505) 
imagined,  and  which  he  began  actually  to  incorporate 
with  his  Hussian  dominions,  and  which,  since  the 
time  of  Peter  the  Great,  has  been  the  earnest  though 
silent  object  of  his  successors. 


488  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XXIII. 

In  the  khanats  themselves  this  Russian  policy  has 
not  passed  entirely  unnoticed.  Princes  and  people 
are  well  aware  of  the  danger  that  threatens  them, 
and  it  is  only  Oriental  indifference  and  religious  en- 
thusiasm that  lull  them  in  the  fond  sleep  of  security. 
The  majority  of  the  Central  Asiatics  with  whom  I 
conversed  upon  this  subject  contented  themselves  by 
observing  that  Turkestan  has  two  strong  de;fenses: 
(1.)  the  great  number  of  saints  who  repose  in  its  ter- 
ritory, under  the  constant  protection  of  the  "noble 
Bokhara;"  (2.)  the  immense  deserts  by  which  it  is 
surrounded.  Few  men,  and  these  only  merchants, 
who  have  resided  long  in  Russia,  would  regard  a 
change  in  their  government  with  indifference ;  for, 
although  they  have  the  same  detestation  for  every 
thing  that  is  not  Mohammedan,  yet,  at  the  same 
time,  they  never  cease  to  extol  the  love  of  justice 
and  the  spirit  of  order  that  distinguish  the  "Unbe- 
lievers. " 


CiiAr.  XXIV.     RIVALRY  OF  RUSSIANS  AND  ENGLISH.  489 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE    RIVALRY    OF    THE    RUSSIANS    AND    ENGLISH   IN 
CENTRAL    ASIA. 

ATTITUDE    OF  RUSSIA    AND    ENGLAND   TOWARD    CENTRAL   ASIA.  —  PROGRESS    Or 
RUSSIA   ON  THE   JAXARTES. 

KiVALRY  between  England  and  Russia  in  Central 
Asia  I  heard  in  England,  on  my  return,  affirmed  to 
be  an  absurdity.  "Let  us."  it  was  said,  "hear  no 
more  of  a  question  so  long  ago  worn  out  and  out  of 
fashion.  The  tribes  of  Turkestan  are  wild,  rude,  and 
barbarous ;  and  it  is  a  matter  upon  which  we  con- 
gratulate ourselves  if  Russia  takes  upon  herself  the 
onerous  and  meritorious  task  of  civilization  in  those 
regions.  England  has  not  the  slightest  cause  to 
watch  such  a  policy  with  envy  or  jealousy." 

Full  of  horror  at  the  scenes  of  cruelty  witnessed 
by  me  in  Turkestan,  of  which  I  have  endeavored  to 
give  a  faint  sketch  in  the  preceding  pages,  I  long  ar- 
gued over  the  question  with  myself  whether  these 
political  views  which  men  sought  to  instill  into  me 
were  really  in  every  respect  well  founded.  It  is 
clear,  and,  indeed,  has  long  been  so,  to  my  mind,  that 
Christian  civilization,  incontestably  the  noblest  and 
most  glorious  attribute  that  ever  graced  human  so- 
ciety, would  be  a  benefit  to  Central  Asia.  The  part, 
however,  of  the  question  that  has  a  political  bearing 
I  could  not  so  easily  dispose  of;  for,  although  I  re- 


490  TRAVELS  IN  CENTEAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XXIV. 

gard  the  subject  in  all  its  different  points  of  view, 
and  drive  my  conjectures  ever  so  far,  I  can  never  en- 
tirely realize  the  idea  that  England  can  behold  with 
indiiference  any  approach  of  Russia  to  her  Indian 
dominions. 

The  epoch  of  political  Utopias  is  past.  We  are 
far  from  being  so  inspired  with  a  Russophobia  as  to 
regard  the  time  as  at  hand  when  the  Russian  Cos- 
sack  and  the  English  Sepoy  shall  knock  their  noses 
together  while  acting  as  sentinels  ujDon  their  respect- 
ive frontiers.  The  drama  of  a  collision  of  the  two 
great  colossi  in  Central  Asia,  which  political  dream- 
ers imagined  years  ago,  continues  still  far  from  act- 
ual performance.  The  question  moves,  it  is  true, 
slowly,  but  still  always  in  a  forward  direction.  Let 
me,  following  the  natural  course  of  events,  without 
undue  warmth,  endeavor  to  acquaint  the  reader  with 
the  motives  that  influence  me  when  I  disapprove  of 
the  indiiference  of  the  English  to  the  Russian  j)olicy 
in  Central  Asia. 

In  the  first  place,  let  us  inquire  whether  Russia  is 
really  pressing  on  toward  the  south;  and  if  so,  what, 
up  to  the  present  moment,  has  been  the  extent  of  her 
actual  advance.  Until  twenty-five  years  ago,  very 
little  attention  had  been  devoted  to  Russian  policy 
in  Central  Asia.  The  occupation  of  Afghanistan  by 
the  English,  and  the  Russo-Persian  alliance  and  ex- 
pedition against  Khiva,  were  the  causes  that  first  led 
to  the  subject  of  Turkestan  being  touched  upon  in 
the  diplomatic  correspondence  between  the  cabinets 
of  St.  Petersburg  and  London.  Since  that  time  a 
tolerable  calm  has  ensued.     England,  discouraged  by 


Chap.  XXIV.  RUSSIAN  INFLUENCE.  49] 

the  failure  of  her  plans,  withdrew  at  once;  but  Kussia 
still  keeps  silently  advancing,  and  essential  changes 
have  taken  place  with  respect  to  her  frontiers  on  the 
side  of  Turkestan.  On  the  Avestern  part  of  Central 
Asia — for  instance,  on  the  Sea  of  Aral  and  its  shores 
—  Russian  influence  has  considerably  increased. 
With  the  exception  of  the  mouth  of  the  Oxus,  the 
entire  west  of  the  Aral  Sea  is  recognized  Russian 
territory.  Upon  that  sea  itself  there  are,  at  this 
day,  three  steamers,  to  which  the  Khan  of  Khiva  has 
given  permission  to  advance  as  far  as  Kungrat.'""-'  It 
is  given  out  that  they  are  there  to  protect  their  fish- 
eries ;  but  they  may  probably  have  another  destina- 
tion, and  every  one  in  Khiva  knows  that  the  recent 
revolutions  in  Kungrat,  as  well  as  other  frequent 
skirmishes  between  Kasaks  and  Ozbegs,  have  a  cer- 
tain connection  with  these  fishing  boats. 

But  these  are  only  secondary  plans.  The  real  line 
of  operations  is  rather  to  be  sought  along  the  left 
bank  of  the  Jaxartes.  Here  we  find  the  Russian 
outposts  supported  by  an  uninterrupted  chain  of 
forts  and  walls,  j)ushed  on  as  far  as  Kale  Rehim,  dis- 
tant thirty-two  miles  from  Tashkend,  which  city  may, 
as  I  have  remarked,  be  regarded  as  a  key  to  all  con- 
quests in  Central  Asia.  This  route,  which  traverses 
fewer  deserts  than  any  other,  is  also,  in  different  re- 

*  That  the  Russian  vessels  do  not  pass  higher  up  the  Oxus 
is  alone  attributable  to  the  numerous  sand-banks  in  that  river, 
which  rapidly  shift  their  places.  I  am  astonished  that  Barnes 
expresses  himself  so  lightly  respecting  its  navigability.  Boat- 
men who  have  passed  all  their  lives  on  the  Oxus  assured  me  that 
the  sand-banks  change  position  so  often  that  the  experience  and 
observation  of  one  day  are  useless  for  the  day  that  follows. 


492  TRAVELS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA.  Chap.  XXIV. 

spects,  well  chosen.  An  army  would  be  here  ex- 
posed, indeed,  to  more  surprises ;  but  these  can  be 
resisted  more  easily  than  the  fury  of  the  elements. 
On  the  eastern  frontiers  of  Khokand  also,  beyond 
Namengan,  the  Russians  continue  to  move  nearer 
and  nearer ;  and  in  the  time  of  Khudayar  Khan 
many  collisions  had  already  taken  place  there  be- 
tween the  Khokandi  and  the  Russians. 

The  continued  j^rogress  of  the  Russian  designs  in 
Central  Asia  is  then  beyond  all  doubt.  As  I  before 
said,  the  interests  of  civilization  make  us  wish  the 
most  entire  success  to  the  Russian  arms ;  but  still, 
the  remote  consequences  of  an  acquisition  once  made 
suggest  a  highly  important  and  complicated  inquiry. 
The  question  whether  Russia  will  content  herself 
even  with  Bokhara,  or  will  allow  the  Oxus  to  be- 
come the  final  boundary  of  her  influence  and  of  her 
designs,  is  difficult  to  answer.  Without  plunging 
into  any  deep  considerations  of  policy,  I  may  remark 
that  it  seems  very  probable  that  the  court  of  St.  Pe- 
tersburg, in  return  for  her  persevering  policy  of  sac- 
rifices pursued  across  deserts  for  years  and  years,  at 
great  expense  and  labor,  will  seek  some  richer  com- 
pensation than  is  to  be  found  in  the  oases  of  Turkes- 
tan. I  should  like,  indeed,  to  see  the  politician  who 
would  venture  to  affirm  that  Russia,  once  in  posses- 
sion of  Turkestan,  would  be  able  to  withstand  the 
temptation  of  advancing,  either  personally  or  by  her 
representatives,  into  Afghanistan  and  Northern  In- 
dia, where  political  intrigues  are  said  to  find  always 
a  fruitful  soil.  At  the  time  when  the  Russian  col- 
umns, under  the  orders  of  PerofFsky,  threw  their  om- 


Chap.  XXIV.  ENGLAND'S  INDIFFERENCE.  493 

inous  shadow  from  the  west  shore  of  the  Aral  Sea  as 
far  as  Kabul — at  the  time  when  the  spectre  of  Vit- 
kovitsh*  appeared  in  that  city  and  in  Kandahar,  the 
possibility  of  such  complications  as  those  alluded  to 
Avas  foreseen.  And  can  not  that  which  has  once 
occurred,  when  the  necessity  arises,  occur  a  second 
time?t 

Without,  therefore,  lending  to  the  question  the  foul 
coloring  of  envy  or  jealousy,  I  consider  myself  justi- 
fied in  disapproving  of  England's  indifference  to  the 
plans  of  Kussia  in  Central  Asia.  Such  is  my  hum- 
ble opinion;  but  whether  the  British  Lion  is  to  come 
in  direct  hostile  collision  with  the  Russian  Bear  in 
those  regions,  or  in  brotherly  fashion  they  are  to  share 
and  share  alike,  is  a  question  which,  in  accordance 
with  the  precept,  "Ne  sutor  ultra  crepidam,"  I  in 
my  character  of  a  dervish,  devoted  to  philological 
studies,  will  not  venture  nearer  to  approach. 

*  This  was  the  name  of  the  Russian  agent  sent  by  the  court 
of  St.  Petersburg  to  Afghanistan  in  1838,  with  large  sums  of 
money  to  be  employed  in  intrigues  against  England. 

f  While  I  write  the  above,  a  St.  Petersburg  correspondent  of 
the  Daily  Telegraph  (lOtli  of  October,  1864)  sends  the  intelli- 
gence that  the  Russians  have  already  taken  Tashkend.  The  au- 
thenticity of  the  statement  may  perhaps  be  doubted,  but  that 
llie  Russians  are  in  movement  in  that  quarter  is  certain. 


THE    END. 


standard  Works 

OF 

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Speke's  Africa.  Journal  of  the  Discovery  of  the  Sources  of  the  Nile.  By 
John  Banning  Speke,  Captain  H.  M.  Indian  Army,  Fellow  and  Gold  Medalist  of 
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on  the  Oriijin,  Character,  and  Capabilities  of  the  Negro,  and  of  the  future  Civili- 
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Du  Chaillu's  Equatorial  Africa.  Explorations  and  Adventures  in  Equato- 
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